The College’s celebrated craft beer festival, Project Brew, will take place at St. Catharines Market Square on Friday, April 12 from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m., and the theme is Hawaiian Bruau. Fourth semester students in NC’s Brewmaster and Brewery Operations Management program will serve up 20 refreshing brews to kick off the spring season.
The student-run event, held each semester, gives the public a chance to sample unique, locally developed, and sometimes experimental, small batch beers from the College’s Teaching Brewery, while students in their final semester put their brewing skills to the test. The evening will feature games and food vendors including NC’s Bench on the Go, Malus Cider House, Pig Out Catering, and Mama’s Chilean Empanadas.
This spring, students will serve up a variety of refreshing brews to quench your thirst, with names like ‘Maui Wowie’ and ‘Hula Hop,’ bursting with flavours like watermelon- grapefruit- and hibiscus-flavoured beer, pale maltz, tropical stout, sour IPAs, and more.
“Project Brew is the culmination of our students learning over the course of four semesters,” said April Tyrrell, faculty advisor. “It’s a wonderful opportunity to bring the beers they’ve so diligently crafted to the community, and gives them experience with how to plan and execute a large-scale event.”
“This event gives us creative freedom as brewers to showcase what we’ve learned at the college,” said Bryan Girard, one of this term’s graduates. “It’s something we’ve been looking forward to for a while, and it’s a great way to cap off the program.”
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Student beers will be judged on site and Lallemand Brewing, one of the event sponsors, will award a $4,500 scholarship to the graduating student who creates the winning beer.
Lallemand Brewing has been a long-standing supporter of student success at NC. A global leader in brewing and distilled spirits, Lallemand’s expertise have played a role in the Brewmaster program since the very start of the program. In addition to sponsoring this year’s award, Lallemand donates the yeast used by students in the program. Lallemand Brewing is also involved in the classroom. Researchers Annick Mercier and Dr. Tobias Fischborn travel from Montreal three times annually to teach NC students in their first semester about different yeast strains.
“Lallemand Brewing is pleased to support the award for the best student brew in Niagara College’s Brewmaster and Brewery Operations Management program. We believe the best brews come from the best ingredients, craftsmanship and education,” said Sylvie Van Zandycke, director of sales and marketing at Lallemand Brewing. “A job well done to all the graduates and all the best in their future careers.”
Advance tickets for Project Brew are sold out and will be available in limited supply at the door for $25 (must be 19 years of age or older with valid photo ID). Admission includes a commemorative sample glass and four drink tokens. Proceeds from Project Brew support the Matt Soos Memorial Fund, which awards a scholarship each year to the student who brews the best beer at the College’s August Brewmaster Competition.
Meet the brewers, get a sneak peek at the brews, and find more details at www.niagaracollege.ca/projectbrew.
