The Niagara Teaching Brewery is springing into a new season with a variety of small batch offerings that go beyond pleasing the palate – they stand for solidarity, awareness and change.
Get a taste of the Brave Noise ‘bevolution’
Brewmaster students gather to on February 18 to participate in Brave Noise Collab Brew Day. The students are joined by Ren Navarro, Brave Noise collaborator and founder of Beer. Diversity.
The Teaching Brewery’s inaugural Brave Noise 2022 beer has hit the shelves at the College’s Wine Visitor + Education Centre.
The Pale Ale was brewed in mid-February by a group of students from the College’s Brewmaster and Brewery Operations Management program as part of their support for the Brave Noise movement. The global collaboration advocates for making the beer industry safe and free from discrimination for women, BIPOC, and LGBTQIA+ people.
“As an initiative that promotes safe and discrimination-free breweries, Brave Noise is relevant to a broad range of NC brewing students,” said fourth-term Brewmaster student Angela McCallum, who coordinated NC’s involvement in the initiative. “Also, with its focus on inclusivity, it encourages all brewers to feel like they are part of the collaboration, rather than singling out certain groups.”
Her classmate Alex Moruzi was among those eager to be a part of the initiative.
“It’s anti-sexist, anti-racist, and anti-homophobic and it felt like something I should be a part of,” said Moruzi. “The industry is ready for a change and this is just the beginning.”
In addition to brewing Brave Noise beer, the College demonstrated transparency in its policies by submitting its codes of conduct to Brave Noise, and its commitment to long-term work through its ongoing support of relevant charities. QR codes linking to its codes of conduct and related resources have also been posted in prominent locations at the Teaching Brewery and throughout NC’s Canadian Food and Wine Institute.
“Our graduates represent the next generation of brewers,” said Maija Saari, Associate Dean of the College’s Canadian Food and Wine Institute. “Projects like Brave Noise remind us, as educators, of the importance of imparting the skills and attitudes necessary to create a respectful and inclusive workplace as well as expert knowledge of brewing.”
Brave Noise Pale Ale was released on March 24 and will be available for purchase ($3.75 per can) while supplies last.
Solidarity brews for Ukraine
College Brewmaster Professor Jon Downing is pictured at the Teaching Brewery (file photo). Downing, who was instrumental in opening two microbreweries in Ukraine during the early nineties, has recently led Brewmaster students to brew two Ukrainian solidarity beers at the Teaching Brewery.
Support for Ukraine is brewing at the NC Teaching Brewery.
Brewmaster Professor Jon Downing and students from the Brewmaster and Brewery Operations Management program answered a call for breweries around the world to brew Resist – Ukrainian Anti Imperial Stout in early March. Developed by displaced Ukrainian brewers, the Resist recipe was shared by Drinkers for Ukraine, an international effort to raise funds for Ukraine, with hopes that brewers worldwide will brew it in solidarity with the beer community in Ukraine whose livelihoods and, in some cases, their businesses have been destroyed by Russian attacks.
Later this month, Downing and students will also brew a Ukrainian Golden Ale, using a recipe developed from Pravda brewery in Lviv, Ukraine, which has halted beer production to make Molotov cocktails during the war.
Downing has also joined brewers from Ukraine and around the world who are participating in a Drinkers for Ukraine Fundraising Livestream on March 26. The video will be live-streamed during the fundraising show, profiling the stories of breweries in Ukraine and raising funds for the relief effort.
For Downing, support for Ukraine is both professional and personal. During the early nineties – a pivotal time after Ukraine gained independence in 1991 – he was instrumental in launching two microbreweries in Ukraine (in Dnipro and Haivoron).
“Having seen the country being rebuilt once, I know it’s going to be rebuilt again. I know that the strength of Ukrainian people will make it happen,” he said. “Brewing is a part of it. Brewing is a part of the economy locally here in Ontario, worldwide and in Ukraine as well.”
The Teaching Brewery’s Resist – Ukrainian Anti Imperial Stout is expected to be available in on March 30 and Ukrainian Golden Ale is expected to be released to the public in mid-May. Both will be available at the College’s Wine Visitor + Education Centre ($3.75 per can) while supplies last.
View March 25, 2022 article on InsideNC: NC brews solidarity.
Kicking up support for gender equality
Pink Boots are displayed at the NC Teaching Brewery on March 8, International Women’s Day, as students work on their Pink Boots brew.
This was the third time the Teaching Brewery has participated in a Pink Boots collaboration brew, which supports gender equality in the beer industry. The global initiative was launched by the Pink Boots Society to assist, inspire and encourage women in the fermentable beverage industry through education in a supportive environment.
NC’s 2022 Pink Boots Brew will be a 6.5 % ABV Double IPA, using the special Pink Boots Collaboration Brew Day hops blend from Yakima Chief Hops – a partner of the Pink Boots. Yakima Chief Hops donates $3 from every pound sold to Pink Boots Society for education and programming.
Pink Boots beer is expected to be available for purchase on April 25 ($3.75 per can) while supplies last.
