The Hop-Edition

By: Kyle Mueller Second-year Brewmaster Student While most hipster craft beer advocates out there seem to jump on board any new beer trend that comes around lately, its always reassuring to go back to a classic beer style that screams “simpler times”. Old Yale Brewing, a legend in the Chilliwack, BC craft beer scene, has just that very beer. Since the start of Old Yale’s existence, they have tried to stay close to their Fraser Valley roots. Using Canada’s best drinking water and all-natural ingredients, they aim to achieve the same balance as the environment around them. Sasquatch, being one of their best sellers and winner of “Best Beer in Canada” 2014, is no different. Brewed with Pale malt as their base malt, supported by Oat, crystal, roasted and Chocolate malts and hopped with Magnum, this beer comes out swinging. Best served in a Guinness-style pint glass, aromatics of chocolate, coffee, vanilla and just a hint of caramel should be detectable. With a creamy full-bodie...

By: Anthony Page Second-year Brewmaster Student I found myself in the nearest specialty liquor supplier, scavenging for the newest, most hop intense, bittersweet and fruity thing I could possibly find when I saw it sitting there.  This was not the style I usually go for, but something about it drew me in.  As I usually go about on my Saturday afternoons in Calgary, I like to grab some beer prior to my once a week family dinner.  My brother in law will be there, and my father will crack a brew with us.  It’s always been a bit of a mission to broaden their horizons with new and interesting ales and lagers.  Of course, I have embarked on studying the art of brewing beer, so I should at least justify my path in schooling by wowing them with something remarkable.  There on the shelf were two six packs of beer I had heard about but had never strongly considered purchasing.  The brewery was fairly new in town, the previous style I had tried from them...

By: David Van De Walle Second-year Brewmaster Student Beer has been produced throughout history, but not for the same reason we produce beer today.  For much of it's early history, beer - or rather a fermented beverage closely resembling beer - has been consumed in large gatherings.  It was not the social aspect that that brought people together for beer, nor was it the large alcohol percentage that enticed them.  It was actually for health reasons that the consumption of beer began.  People found out long ago that when they consumed beer instead of water, they did not get as sick.  They did not understand the reasons why, but they did not question it, and continued the consumption of beer.  Little did they know that the yeast found in the beer out-competed the other harmful bacteria found in the water.  The yeast also increased the ethanol levels, and decreased the pH to levels that are harmful to other organisms.  The act of fermentati...

By: Varick Grasley Second-Year Brewmaster Student With the installation of Dry January and Sober February, there seems to be a trend in the desire for people to lower their intake of alcohol. According to Chris Furnari from Forbes.com (2020), 21% of Americans took part in sober January in 2020. Many people have limited or eliminated alcohol from their diet for health-related reasons, whether to decrease alcoholism, or for religious or financial purposes. Instead of switching to sugar filled sodas or carbonated water, people have started to explore the world of non-alcoholic or low alcoholic beers. In the United States, non-alcoholic beer sales increased by 39% in January 2020. This seems to indicate that people still want to enjoy a good tasting beer, just without the alcohol content. This trend can be seen in Europe as well. Edith Hancock from Thedrinksbusiness.com (2019) noted that sales of non-alcoholic beers have increased 60% in Ireland between 2017 and 2018 and up to an 8...