Niagara College Bru-Stock will fill Market Square with suds
Something will be brewing at St. Catharines Market Square Friday night.
Bru-Stock, a regular Project Brew event staged by graduate students from the Niagara College brewmaster and brewery operations program, hits the market starting at 5:30 p.m., with 17 student offerings on tap.
College brewmaster Jon Downing said this is the only place and day when the public gets to taste the “creative efforts the students came up with, creating the most avant-garde, cutting-edge beers.”
Downing said that the first Brew Project event was organized just outside of the teaching brewery shop, but has evolved to become “an actual event where students organize it, run it and where all the beers are available,” he said.
Downing’s favourite part of the project “is testing the beer.”
Steve Gill, general manager of Niagara College Learning Enterprise Corp., called the beer tasting during the Project Brew event “a resume tasting.”
“These students are graduating and they are really well trained to make some great beers,” said Gill. “We are actually having a lot of brewers coming to taste some of these beers and to meet the students.
“I know for fact a lot of different brewery owners are so glad we have this program in Ontario. It’s helping the whole industry in Ontario and across Canada with well trained professionals.”
The proceeds from Bru-Stock and other Project Brew events go towards the Matt Soos Memorial Scholarship for the brewmaster and brewery operations programs.
Proceeds from the store sales also come back to the program.
“All the money that we make from sales help students to learn,” said Gill. “We pay for the equipment. We wouldn’t have a classroom like this unless you have a model like this.”
Joe Hamilton, one of the graduate students, who was a geologist in the past, will present his dry hopped doppelbock beer conditioned with honey called The Hallucinator on Friday.
“The most enjoyable part of the program is tasting your product which is all part of the quality control process; and insuring that everything you do from the beginning ends up with the fantastic product,” said Hamilton.
During four semesters students learn everything from the actual brewing process to packaging .
“Everything is done here at the college, including can filling, bottle filling as well as labelling,” said Hamilton. “Packaging is a big part of the program. Finished beer gets to the consumer. The last step is probably the most important because if it’s not packaged properly, it stays on the shelf and goes off the shelf and all your work to that point disappeared.”
The brewmaster and brewery operations management program at Niagara College is the first of its kind in Canada. The program includes specialized instruction in brewing technology, sensory evaluation, quality control, brewery operations, sales management and business applications specific to beer-related sector.
Tickets for Bru-Stock are $20 and include a sample glass and four drink tokens. Additional drink tokens can be purchased for $2 at the event. Bru-Stock runs until 9:30 p.m. and participants must be 19 years of age or older. Valid photo ID required.