Up All Night

I should be sleeping.  Am I awake because I'm studying for my finals?  No, but I should be.  Is it because I drank too much coffee?  Nope, just had one.  Too much beer? Nope just one as well.  In fact, I only had one beverage tonight and if you have been reading my blog, I am pretty sure you know where I am going with this.  Tonight was the official launch of the collaboration beer- Night Owl Kenyan french pressed coffee stout.  I am certainly buzzed right now but it's from excitement.

I arrived at Phil & Sebastian's Mission location to find people lined up outside the door.  As a gap appeared in the line, I got to read the sign announcing the launch, complete with the name and imagery I proposed.  What a feeling. The artists that were used really nailed it.  Inside it was bustling and everyone seemed to be enjoying the evening.  It was a great opportunity to talk to people from the collaboration, the industry in general and people who are just genuinely interested in beer and the craft beer scene in Alberta.

I got in line to get my very first taste of the production batch that I got to help brew.  Everything was to theme.  Night Owl glassware, decal on the kegerator, even the handmade tap handles.  I am sorry I forgot to get a picture of that, but trust me it looked cool.  The beer itself was also a success.  It was very much a coffee stout.  Lots of bold and delicious coffee flavours but at the same time, undeniably a proper beer.  It's a product that I am proud to have been a part of and the only disappointment is that it's just around for this one project. So if you want to try it, you better get down to Phil & Sebastian's or meet me at Calgary Beerfest.

For the launch, the guys from the Good Old Fridge had a video chronicling the collaboration.  Be sure to give it a peek if you want to know what tonight was about and let them know what you think: @GoodOldFridge

One thing that I was reminded of during the evening's conversations is the kindred spirit of all the collaborators.  A project like this works even though everyone has different interests because they all share one important thing.  Passion.  Whether that passion is for beer or for coffee, that drive to find the ultimate experience and share it with others is what keeps us up at night.
So from this Night Owl,
Cheers!

Playing Around

So, today is the last day of classes in my first of two years for the Brewmaster and Brewery Operations Management Diploma at Olds College.  It is indeed bittersweet.  On the one hand, my sleep schedule may once again attain normality and my bank account can stop hemorrhaging and begin to recharge.  On the other, I am saying a temporary goodbye to 25 great drinking buddies and easy access to a sort of hive mind of beer knowledge and brewing ideas that our program has become.  The three most common questions that I have heard asked lately seem to be: Have you finished assignment X?  Where are you going to be working? and What beer are you going to brew this summer?

I certainly have a plan in my mind about what I am going to brew in the next four months and in the past I have usually brewed alone.  This summer is different, I have been spoiled lately.  I have been living and breathing brewing and my mind has been racing with new ideas for recipes or reviving styles or contemplating what a beer could taste like with random ingredients.  And so has everyone else.  We have become a sounding board for each other; we share ideas and thoughts and sometimes things click.  We get two or more people with similar notions and a new beer is born.  We have become collaboration brewers on a homebrew scale.

Purple Nurple: started orange and ended pink!

I bought a large selection of supplies to get me through my brewing withdrawals over Christmas and ended up with some extra Saison yeast.  I had been tossing the idea of brewing a beer with beetroot in my mind for a while and when I got back to class and mentioned this, one of my peers informed me that another classmate, Foster, had expressed the same interest.  I immediately presented my idea for a Beet Saison to him and off we went.  We determined that we had a similar vision for the beer and I presented my recipe ideas. He proposed some changes and then we did some tweaking to get it just right.  After some preliminary testing, we set a brew day for our creation lovingly dubbed the Purple Nurple.  It turned out great!  Together we had discussed how to make the beets sing without tasting like cooked vegetables, we researched and sniffed hops to get that right earthy-spiciness, we were an unstoppable team.

The entire year has been a collection of these moments: testing different honeys for an English Honey Ale, sharing experience and equipment for making lagers, testing the effects of water profiles on Pilsners.  IPA's have been born from the simple line "I've got these hops. what do you have?"  When I set up my equipment on a brew day over the summer, I know I am going to have fun and learn something new- I always do.  But it is certainly going to lack a little bit of a spark, that energy you get from sharing your passion with a like minded soul.  I can't wait to see what my classmates have come up with over the next few months, what ideas they've got fermenting.  But more importantly, I can't wait to start turning these thoughts into delicious beer with my friends.

Until then, Cheers!

Speaking of fermenting-
Apparently honey makes yeast buzz too!

Collaboration

Not too long ago, I was given an amazing opportunity.  I was invited to be one of four students representing the Olds College Brewmaster Program on a collaboration project.  You see, this is the 10th anniversary of Calgary Beerfest and they thought it would be a great idea to have a collaboration beer for their upcoming event.  Big Rock Brewery and Tool Shed Brewing were on board and so were the folks from Phil & Sebastian Coffee Roasters and the Good Old Fridge.  Then, in an incredible act of kindness, they all decided to direct the proceeds to a scholarship for the students of the new brewmaster program at Olds College.
Lucky for me, it didn't stop there.  As students of the program, we were invited to Calgary to attend the collaboration meeting where the project was planned and laid out.  We got to shake hands with the brewmasters and everyone involved.  Sitting around that table listening to the dedicated and knowledgeable professionals was incredibly inspiring.  I could see that the excitement and joy was still present after years of experience in the industry.  The sense of co-operation, passion, and attention to detail was incredible and helped reaffirm that I was on my proper path with this career choice.  In the end it was determined that we were going to brew a coffee stout, but one that was made with as much care for the coffee as for the beer.  If you could have heard this cast of characters talking about their individual areas of expertise, you would realize that it couldn't be any other way.  And that it was gong to be great.  When the discussion turned to packaging the product, I spoke up and suggested that since we were studying this very subject in school, maybe the students could help contribute in this area.  This was enthusiastically received and in the end it was decided that Olds College students would submit suggestions for the beer's name, the creative copy for the label, and the art direction that would be executed by the professional artists for the breweries.

Students getting hands-on

We were all added to the communications circle and got to see the progress of the project and the steps that were required for such an undertaking.  I was incredibly honored when my ideas were selected for the packaging of the product and so Night Owl coffee stout was good to go.  Next came the brew day.  Once again we all gathered at the Big Rock Brewery and got to work.  There was a tangible energy about the place as we got underway.  In between steps, we had a personal tour of the brewery from the brewmaster, Paul, and got to talk to the employees as they carried out their work day.
Thankfully, it was a long brew day which gave me ample opportunity to talk to everyone and learn more than a few new things.  We were also able to be hands-on; we pitched yeast into the fermentor and even got to add the hops- still exciting no matter how many times I've done it.

Does your job make you smile like this?

Now it is up to the yeast.  Once it's done fermenting and goes through packaging you will be able to get your mitts on the fruit of our labour at the official launch in Phil & Sebastian's Mission location on April 22nd.  After that, well, I hope you get to enjoy Night Owl at Calgary Beerfest on May 2nd and 3rd.  I just might see you there so we can raise a glass to thank all of the amazing people who have made this collaboration an unforgettable and enjoyable experience.

Until then, Cheers!