B.C. program brews up 1st place finish in North American beer school championship

Students and staff at Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s (KPU) brewing program are raising a glass after the school took home a prestigious honour this week.

KPU’s Brewing and Brewery Operations program took home the prize as overall winner at the U.S. Open College Beer Championship, a competition that rates the brews produced by schools that train professional beersmiths.

The 14-school championship, now in its fourth year, aims to “help determine the best future brewers in North America,” according to organizers.

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Out of five competition categories KPU took home the gold in two, winning top honours for its 50/50 Hefeweizen and its Fruity and the Yeast NE IPA, along with silver for its Storm Stout.

The beer was brewed by students Joe Mallinson, Kyle Grohs, Danilo Chiga, Felipe Freire, Wes Bain and Daryl McDonald.

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Michigan’s Schoolcraft College came second overall. Third place was a three-way tie between Kalamazoo Valley Community College, Central Michigan University and Alabama’s Auburn University.

KPU’s program has only been up and running since 2014, and program chair and brewing manager Alek Egi said the victory shows how seriously staff and students take their business.

“Being the youngest school definitely means a lot. It shows the quality of the education here,” he said. “We’re extremely proud of our students.

“This is a fantastic accomplishment for them and definitely it’s going to help with their careers but it’s also showing that our brewing team that is teaching here are doing some serious work and putting a lot of effort into all this.”

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The 2019 win builds on previous success for the KPU program, which took home second place overall in the 2017 championship.

KPU students’ success on the medal board has been reflected in success in the job market, according to Egi, who says the brewing program has a 90 per cent placement rate in the Lower Mainland’s booming craft beer industry.

“Even before they graduate most of them already have firm job offers,” Egi said.

“A lot of them do work even while they are in the program. This is a full-time program, but typically we do not have classes on Fridays so they work Fridays and weekends.”

As for members of the public hoping to get a taste of the prize winning brews, sadly, they’re out of luck.

Egi said the school brews on just a 200-litre system, and while it does sell that beer on Fridays, it goes fast.

“It’s mostly gone through the first day of sales,” he said.

“We sell only in growlers. We do not put anything in packages, so the beer is only available here at KPU. You can’t buy it in any any liquor stores.”