Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Gluten Free Beers - Part 1 - Thoughts (Industry Class)

Disclaimer: In this article you may bump into, be nudged by, and potentially trip over a substantial amount of sarcasm. It doesn't happen that often but do be mindful while reading. After all, I take health and safety VERY seriously. 


You've been warned. 
     I was traipsing (that's right, traipsing...it's kind of like surfing with intent) across the internet the other day found this article. It's titled "How we all went crazy for gluten-free beer."  

     After reading the title I thought, "People went crazy?" I can understand excited but apparently in the UK, Gluten-Free beers are all the rage. I did read some points in this article that really need to be addressed. 

"But with two of the main ingredients of beer - barley and hops - containing gluten, is there really any point in making gluten-free beer?"
"Great Horny Toads! Them thar hops have that pesky gluten. Get 'em!"
Whoa, whoa, whoa. Slow down there. I get that barley has gluten and we use barley to make bread...but hops? Really? Obviously the author doesn't drink beer because even the average light lager drinker knows that hops doesn't have gluten. 

But wait, maybe I shouldn't be so closed minded. Maybe there is a special strain of hop that has gluten and it's been sneaking its way into every beer out there. It's those SNEAKY hops that are causing all the celiacs to have problems...not just the grains.

Ok, maybe I'm wrong though. Maybe there IS gluten in hops as part of some eerie "gluten-is-hidden-behind-the-lupulin-gland-of-the-hop" science-y thing that I'm missing. So being the curious guy I am, I looked it up. Last time I checked, hops are essentially a flower & flowers don't have gluten...or do they?  I decided to look it up further in The Oxford Companion of Beer (page 459 to 460 if you're really interested) and it mentions the following:
  • hops are perennial herbaceous plants (psst, that means plants like trees, shrubs, and vines, oh my! Yeah, you're trying to tell me a freaking TREE has gluten? I knew those bark sandwiches were bad for me!)
  • they are called the "little wolf PLANT", named for the plant's tactile qualities
  • hops belong to the family of Cannabinaceae (yep that includes Cannabis) (So technically wouldn't that mean that celiacs shouldn't smoke "the marijuana" as well?) 
I get it now! The gluten sensitive Orcs of Eisengard were only protecting themselves by cutting down all the trees that were full of gluten. Why would the Ents be upset by that? Can't we all just get along?
But don't just take my word for it. Here are a couple links for you to check out:



"Forget Craft Beers: 2015 will be the year that gluten-free grog made the mainstream"

(shaking head). Forget Craft beers? Craft Beer is undergoing another wave (kind of like surfing...yes, surfing...not traipsing). How can 18.72% (from the earlier math remember?) be construed as mainstream? Wouldn't that have to be a majority? So is this person saying that craft beer is mainstream? So does that mean that gluten-free beer is NOT craft beer? I'm getting sort of lost here. 

     I decided to ask a source so I promptly called up one of my favorite boutique liquor stores, Firefly Fine Wines and Ales in Maple Ridge, and asked them how many different beers they had in stock. I was informed that the store around 1200. That's really impressive! How many gluten free beers do they have? Twenty. 

(Here we go with the math again) So that means that 1.67% of their total beer stock consists of gluten-free brews. Now 20 different gluten-free beers isn't anything to sneeze at. Firefly has experienced such solid growth in the past 2 years that they have had to change from a small single shelf to 2 larger shelves. I also hear that this particular liquor store currently has the best selection of Gluten-Free beer in their area. That's awesome and great news for celiacs.

"You can't argue with the stats and 12 million Britons are now choosing gluten-free products, whether they need to or not."

     Ok, but when you mean "Briton", I'm sure you mean the UK. So that means out of an entire population of 64.1 million people (as per 2013) that means that 12 million are choosing gluten-free products? Unless my math is wrong, (No, I'm not using new math) that means that such is 18.72% which is a fair amount of people. Just because they are choosing gluten-free products doesn't mean they're choosing gluten-free beer
No, I didn't use new math to come up with my percentages. 
These people could simply be becoming vegetarians, vegans, valedictorians, whatever. Again, that does not mean they are going to reach for a gluten-free beer because they could be reaching for wine and / or cider. I'd be interested to see how many people on gluten-free diets reach for gluten-free beer, that way this can better tell the story. 

"Gluten-free beers tend to use alternative grains and grasses such as millet, rice, corn, buckwheat or sorghum in place of these during the brewing process. This can give the drink a slightly different taste, as the dominant flavour of a traditional beer is the hops (CELIA is one gluten-free option that is made with hops that are de-glutenized)."

     Well, the "slightly different taste"  is very subjective. Since when do you have to de-glutenize hops? When I visited Hop Union in the Yakima Valley this past September, I don't recall seeing a "deglutinizer" when it comes to hop processing in their facility. 

Again I decided to contact a source so I called up a buddy of mine who works at a hop-farm in BC. I asked him if there was a way to de-glutenize hops and the first thing he said was
 "(Insert Long pause)...........what? De-who-what?

I think this drives my point home. 

"Traditional beer is made with hops, but gluten-free beers often use other grains."

Hops are a grain? Then how come I NEVER see hop bread, hop muffins, hop croissants, hop crackers, or hop croutons?  Am I not looking hard enough? 


Hops: Apparently they have gluten. Who new?
     My additional counter-point to this comes from a video I saw on the Spinnakers Facebook page that had a panel during Victoria Beer Week in 2014. If you check out the vid, zip ahead to 23:00 because that's when they talk about gluten free beers. Keep in mind the panel consists of successful BC brewers. According to host and writer Joe Weibe (aka the Thirsty Writer (Super-talented guy btw)), he says that "17% of British Columbians claim a gluten-free lifestyle".

Hmm, that lines up with what is happening in the UK. Maybe the numbers are true, but I stand behind my point that those people may not be reaching for gluten-free beer. 

Keep in mind, Matt Phillips (Owner and head brewer of Phillips Brewing in Victoria BC), states there are 2 ways to make gluten-free beer:
  1. To use non-gluten type ingredients (i.e. sorghum, rice, I've seen chestnuts). 
  2. To use an enzyme that clarifies and removes proteins (mainly gluten). 
"My water is contaminated...it has gluten in it."
Both of these are problematic. This gets into the area of materials handling and proper storage protocols but more importantly: cross-contamination

That means you pretty much need to have an entirely separate brewhouse in order to keep from having any residual gluten from floating around...or wouldn't you? 

It seems that the enzymatic removal would be the way to go. But this leads into another point:

Are we going for gluten-free or gluten-reduced?

When my Mom was alive, she was a diabetic. When we were out grocery shopping together one day I had picked up some sugar-free product for her and she told me to put it back. After some discussion from my natural confusion she said this brilliant epiphany to me. 

"Just because something says 'sugar free' doesn't mean it's diabetic friendly."

With that being said, I say this to all you celiacs out there:


"Just because something is gluten-free doesn't mean it's celiac friendly."

But wait, the large majority of celiacs monitor their diet really well so you celiacs already know that. (No seriously! I'm not being sarcastic here)

     Now I personally know 7 people who are celiac and have varying degrees of sensitivity from "gluten makes me uncomfortable" to "OMG, I FEEL LIKE I'M GOING TO DIE!" For something to be considered gluten free, that means it has to have less than 20 ppm of gluten in it. My friends that are celiac have a hard time with beers that use enzymes to try and remove gluten below 20 ppm.

In fact, over this past summer I hung out with my pal Lisa and brought a bunch of gluten-free beers for her to try (all from my favorite liquor store). She stated that she couldn't have gluten-free beers that used enzymatic removal. My heart sunk. I thought I had hit the jackpot with being able to hang out on her decorated deck of awesome in the summer sun, catch up, and crush a few cold ones. Nope. 

I think there needs to be more research in order to completely get a beer to be gluten-free AND to be enjoyable for the conventional palate. Now, I've tried my fair share of gluten-free beer (which I'll do a follow-up post on), mainly because I want to find beers that my celiac pals and I can enjoy. 

If people want to have a gluten-free lifestyle (meaning they are NOT celiac) then power to them because healthy is good. But didn't we see the same sort of thing years ago and what happened to that? (**cough** Atkins **cough, cough**) 

Now I'm going to have a gluten-free beer, oh wait, I don't have any. Hmmm, cider is looking pretty good about now.

See ya!
BL

PS: I'm thinking of doing a follow-up post to this with a list of Gluten Free Beers that I've tried and can suggest to those celiac individuals. If you think it's a good idea, then please say so in the comments. Thanks. 

Saturday, March 21, 2015

Beer Education - There's always more to learn (Industry Post)

      We all know that craft beer is growing (if you didn't know, then just take my word for it) and the need for educated people is becoming more prevalent & even required in order to keep the consistency of craft beer to a high level. To fill the gap of needing well trained individuals, there are 4 post-secondary institutions in Canada (at least that I know of and at the time of this writing) that are offering brewing related programs as follows:

Niagara College - (in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario) started the proverbial ball rolling with their Brewmaster and Brewery Operations Management Diploma program a few years ago. They have the luxury of a viticulture program (that’s wine-making there, folks) and a culinary program to boot to round things out.

Olds College – out in Olds, Alberta (Don’t know where that is? Think about 1 hour North of Calgary), they’re going to be graduating their first class of their Brewmaster and Brewery Operations Management Diploma Program this April.  Located in the heart of barley country so they enjoy close proximity to high quality ingredients combined with a large impetus placed on hands-on learning. 

Kwantlen Polytechnic University – out in Langley, BC have started their Brewing & Brewery Operations Program in 2014 and the first program of their kind in British Columbia. With all the breweries that are opening in BC, this makes sense.

Simon Fraser University – this group in has 3 campuses in BC and are offering a Craft Beer & Brewing Essentials certificate that’s launching in October of this year.

     Now if you’re not quite ready to commit to a few years to expanding your technical brewing skills then look no further than Olds College because they are offering a 2-day Practical Microbiology for the Craft Brewer short course held at Olds College on May 2nd & 3rd (Sat-Sun).

Get in on this while you can, I hear that space is very limited. 
Who will be instructing this course?

It will be instructed by Dr. Jordan Ramey who is a microbiology guru, certified Beer Judge, professor for the Olds College Brewmaster & Brewery Operations Management program, brewing consultant, sensory scientist, and contributing member of the Master Brewers Association of the Americas.

Why would you want to take this course?

This course would do well for people that may already be in the craft brewing industry (before all the brewery programs listed above came to be) and are looking to improve their lab skills.  Perhaps a craft brewery has brought onto their staff a talented home brewer and needs to introduce lab techniques to them? You could be part of a brewery and you’re building a lab and need to gain some skills.  
  
I have it on good authority that he will be assisted by Doug Cheknita who is part of the inaugural graduating class of the Olds College Brewing Program. A strong brewer specializing in Belgians, Sours, and wild fermentations, Doug has a special affinity for brewing microbiology and working with novel yeast and bacterial strains for creative flavor profile production. He has been working on a Special Project over the past year to isolate wild strains of yeast & brewing bacterias in Alberta. 

What should you expect?

Jordan & Doug are both patient, insightful, and bring a wealth of knowledge that will expand your scientific techniques with various microbiological assays that are commonly used in a craft brewery. Expect to learn about yeast counting & viability, Gram staining, media preparation, differential media use, micro QA/QC planning, and yeast library maintenance in a hands-on environment. Space is limited to only 9 participants so you’ll want to get in on this. Don’t expect to see scenes like the picture below, but that’s not to say that fun won’t be had. 

What do you think the caption for this should be? It's like a Meme waiting to happen. (and No, this isn't a picture of Jordan & Doug)
     As a brewing student that has taken Brewing Microbiology, learning about lab techniques that can be used in a craft brewery was a truly eye opening experience and truly rounded out my insight into the brewing world. 

     Now some of you may be thinking “Why the plug? What do you get out of it there, Beerlearner?” The funny thing is that I don’t get “anything out of it” short of satisfaction in helping get the word out to expand the knowledge of people in the craft brewing industry. Sometimes as a BeerLearner, it’s not just about my own knowledge gain but also spreading the learning to those motivated and interested people.

Enjoy!
BL

PS: In case you missed the link to check out this short-course, simply click here

Friday, March 13, 2015

Charity Beers & Sales - (Sales Class)

 In case you hadn’t heard, or you just got out of hibernation (I don’t blame you considering the amount of cold weather in this province), recently the female brew students of the Brewmaster program got together to brew a beer called Calamity Jane. Part of the proceeds of this beer will go to a women’s charity in Alberta and the Pink Boots Society. If you missed the story, check it out at my “brew-sister’s” blog .

It was discussed in my Brewing Sales & Promotions class that some businesses can receive a plethora of calls from various charities asking for charitable donations. It was also brought to my attention by my instructor, which made me really uncomfortable to hear, that charity events are often viewed as a loss in sales for businesses. Why is that? Has it always been that way? Wouldn’t the social media presence alone encourage the sale of this beer?

I can only speak for myself in that within me it creates a stronger bond with that brewery. It shows that a company is just not about making a buck and also wants to support their community.

One night, I got to thinking of all the breweries that do charity events or brews that I know. I’m sure there are a myriad of them out there and I could easily create a book. The notable ones that stick out in my mind are (in no particular order):

This is the beer from Phillips that I had
Phillips Brewing – they conduct a Benefit Brew where the public votes on which charity they donate via creation of a special edition brew. This year they have two Benefit brews – one for BC and one for Alberta. Don’t believe me? Check it out here:

I managed to snag their milk stout a year or so ago and really enjoyed it. The challenge with this program is that almost every time I want to get the beer, it’s gone from stores.

Central City Brewery Imperial IPA for Autism – This is a pretty extensive program that connects with the Canucks Autism Network (CAN) to build awareness. I’ve had this beer and it’s a cacophony of melon, red ruby grapefruit, passionfruit and typical Northwest hop personality backed by Central City craftsmanship. I hope Central City Brewery keeps putting out this beer because you get to help a worthy cause and drink great beer. You can read about this program more here.

This beer brings back memories...good ones.




Tree Brewing’s Community Pint – At Tree Brewing’s recently opened Beer Institute they had Community Pint night every Tuesday for the month of February where 50 cents from each pint sold was to be donated to a local charity. They do a similar thing in their tasting room located at their brewery where a portion of the tasting fee goes to a different charity for each month of the year. They have also been involved with the BC Fire ReLeaf Fund, Cops For Kids, Ski To Sea and the many charitable donations made throughout the year. I like the idea that a specific beer doesn’t need to be purchased to see some kickback to the community.

Read a bit about the Community Pint here.

Alberta Beer Festivals – Yes, yes, I realize that this group isn’t a brewery but their mission statement is 

Alberta Beer Festivals is a forum for breweries to share their stories, passions and products with beer enthusiasts of Western Canada. We create a positive impact in the beer industry, local charities and within our community”. Bill Robinson and his team are a great asset to the growing craft beer community in Alberta. They’re not about being at the forefront per se, moreso about allowing the brewing industry to unite under their own terms in a venue of camaraderie for the sake of the industry. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting Bill, Mark, & Brett when they came up and gave a talk to us students. A great crew that have a provincial reach to numerous charities. Peruse their slick and updated website at this link

Honestly, I think that positivity and charity events will pay off in cross-marketing & promotions, collaboration brews and projects, sponsorship and involvements that can only benefit a brewery. Maybe I’m just naïve in thinking that helping out a charity is a loss in profitability.  I can understand that a brewery would have to pick and choose which charity / charities to assist that may better work with a brewery’s ideals and mission statement.

I believe with volunteer and charity work, what may not emerge with financial ROI will come back in good energy and an even better name by your consumers. Maybe that’s why this student of beer is growing his hair long and has a charity event planned that involves cutting off his hair for Cancer Kids. Now how do I go about putting that one together? I have a few more years at least so my hair gets to the length I want.

Thanks for reading,
BeerLearner


PS: What other charity beers or beer events stand out with YOU? Feel free to list them in the comments. What’s great is that there is no wrong answer here.

Wednesday, March 11, 2015

Ladies in Brewing - a musing (Industry Class)

Recently all the female brew students in 1st & 2nd year at the Brewmaster program got together and created Calamity Jane Pale Ale in order to celebrate International Women's Day. These ladies did everything. They worked together to come up with the recipe, brewed it, transferred the brew, monitored fermentation, filtered it, bottled it, promoted it and more. Part of the proceeds of this limited release beer from this beer is to go to a Central Alberta Women’s Charity and to the Pink Boots Society. You don’t know who Pink Boots are? Well check out this link.

I visited my "brew-sister" Lisa and the 1st years on the day of the brew and there was a lot going on. Don't take my word for it, check out her blog here. They were all talking about how excited they were to support International Women’s Day. The gals even had a launch party at the local restaurant with plenty of media at the event to promote it. There’s even been some buzz around the web at these links.:



Now I got to thinking “Waitasec, women used to brew beer in history, so why not now? Is it all the corporate shenanigans that turned brewing into a male-dominated industry?”

When I think of 'women in brewing', I think of the following: 

Barleys Angels – Their website says that they“expand the appreciation and understanding of craft beer among women through events with craft beer professional”. There are a couple groups located in Alberta and a couple in BC and they span world wide. Take a peek here. 

Beer Chicks – Christina Perozzi & Hallie Beaune are two of my heroines in the beer industry from the US. They’re smart, sassy, intelligent, brew beer, and the list goes on. I have their 2 books: The Naked Pint & The Naked Brewer. These are 2 ladies that I’d love to have a pint or two with. Lots of talent and insight with these two gals at this site.

The book "The Naked Brewer" with Christina Perozzi & Hallie Beanue (aka The Beer Chicks). Why naked? Beats me but it got your attention right?
Brew Betties YYC - 

Started by the female powerhouse Tiffany, this is a group based in Calgary designed to bring ladies together to appreciate craft beer and more. She's a fun pal of mine. When you get a chance, check out her Facebook page!

Mirella Amato – How can you be in the beer industry and not admire one of the only 7 Certified Master Cicerones? I have her book Beerology and I’d love to take her course if I lived in Ontario. Another person on my “Must-have-beer-with-this-person-before-I-die” list.

Don't worry there are more! I've lost count as to how many gung-ho gals there are in the BC beer industry. People from brewers, knowledgeable sales reps & managers (Shout outs to Folland, Laura, Tess, Emily, Alicia, & Trish), liquor store managers (Go Holly @ Firefly Maple Ridge!), CAMRA members (such as Lundy, Monica, Amanda for starters and Natasha in CAMRA Alberta). Whew!

You want an article about some of these gals? Here you go.

I know I missed mentioning other talented female individuals in the brewing industry. It's not that I'm ignoring you, it's just that there are so many talented gals that are breaking down barriers of this male dominated industry. 


Gentlemen -  if you haven't embraced the change that ladies are into craft beer then please give your head a slight shake because back in the day...women brewed the beer!

Ladies! - Keep up the momentum! I salute you and honestly support all of you getting the word out about your unique insights and perspectives. 

Cheers,
BL