When Cameron Marsh heard the name of the third-place finisher in the Project Brew scholarship contest last month, he held out hope.

By the time the second place beer and student brewmaster were named during a Zoom call to announce the winner of the $4,500 prize, he shut off his computer camera and put his head on his desk.

There was no chance Marsh, who recently graduated from the Brewmaster and Brewery Operations Management program, was going to win with his submission of a mango gose.

Or so he thought.

“They went from third place to second place and then it was first place and I thought ‘OK, there’s no way,’ ” Marsh said. “I put my head down, then they called my name. It was pretty unbelievable.”

The cash prize, sponsored by Lallemand Brewing, was like getting a refund on his final term’s tuition. It was enough to cover Marsh’s move with his girlfriend to St. John’s, NFLD, where he was hired as a brewer at Quidi Vidi Brewing Company. 

With the pandemic limiting job opportunities while he studied, the scholarship was a much-needed financial boost to get  to the East Coast without having to rely on family for help, Marsh explained.

“Right out of school, we had so much planned for what we wanted to do, so much lined up,” he said. “This definitely comes at a time when we needed the financial help to get out here. It was nice getting this and saying (to my family) ‘We’re OK, we’ve got this.’ It was a great feeling.”

So why all the self-doubt heading into the competition? 

For starters, completing a hands-on program like Brewmaster and Brewery Operations Management isn’t easy in a pandemic that demands physical distancing and learning and working from home, explained Craig Youdale, Dean of the Canadian Food and Wine Institute.

“This past year has been very challenging for all our students, especially our final term brewing students,” Youdale said. “The onset of the pandemic has meant they need to navigate online learning, strict COVID safety protocols, extensive PPE,  and a limited number of students in our academic spaces.”

Despite these challenges, Youdale added, Marsh and his classmates stepped up and produced exceptional beer.

But there were moments Marsh wasn’t so sure.

He picked an unconventional beer style for the competition. Gose is a warm-fermented German beer that originated in the 1200s and boasts sour, herbal and salty characteristics.

He could have stuck with a classic recipe, inspired by his appreciation for a version produced by Burlington brewery Nickel Brook, but Marsh’s love of fruit compelled him to try it with mango. 

Mix in the pandemic, which limited how often he could check on his Project Brew, and there was a whole lot of uncertainty about how the concoction would turn out.

“It was pretty stressful. Normally when we have other classes, we can pop into the brewery and check in on things,” Marsh said. “This was, you brew and sit at home. If something went wrong and we could only check on a Thursday, we wouldn’t know if it made a difference the next day.

The entire brewing process took one month and, challenges aside, those first few sips left Marsh content with the results.

“It turned out the way I wanted. I get the mango, it’s perfectly salty,” he said. “I thought it was great but I always wonder what other people think of it because I’m not brewing the beer for myself. It was the best when my mom and sister enjoyed it because they’re not beer people. I wanted to brew a beer for anyone and everyone to enjoy.”

Still, he wasn’t confident it would net him any awards, especially after a sensory class in which there seemed to be more excitement for some of his classmates’ beers. 

However, Marsh’s mango gose was the unanimous choice of the three Project Brew judges: Victor North, brewmaster support liaison; Kevin Sommerville, Lallemand Brewing’s technical sales manager and a former program instructor; and Mark Horsley, part-time instructor and program alumnus. 

“It was another strong year; a strong group under difficult circumstances putting together a great package of beer,” North said. “(Marsh’s beer) was well-balanced. With a gose, you’re always looking to strike a harmonious, sessionable balance between the salty and sourness of the beer. Adding fruit adds another level of complexity. We’re looking for more than just fruit juice here. We want to have a beer. I think he nailed it.”

Although Marsh is currently learning Quidi Vidi’s flagship recipes, he’s hopeful he’ll be able to one day do a repeat performance of his mango gose for suds fans on The Rock.

“I’m so proud of it and want it to get better,” he said. “It’ll be interesting brewing it on such a small scale and then brewing it on a larger scale and seeing how it turns out.”