If you are reading this page, odds are good that you have at least a passing familiarity with beer.
If you are a faithful reader, odds are even better that you have a deep and spiritually fulfilling relationship with beer.
Maybe your FaceBook status updates are littered with selfies that proudly display your pilgrimage to yet another far-flung microbrewery, all blissfully unaware of the growing frustration of your lady friend who really wanted to go on a romantic carriage ride through Central Park instead of a trip to another godforsaken beer factory that all look the same to her.
Anyhow, regardless of which end of that spectrum you fall into, beer is likely around when you gather with friends, and is not a stranger in your home.
Despite you and beer being on friendly terms for what may be many years, how many of us stop to think about the life and times of the crafty brewmasters who bring so much fizzy delight into the world?
Well gentle reader, it just so happens that our province is home to Canada’s one of only two post-secondary brewmaster programs in Canada.
Located just 100km north of Calgary, Olds College had its first intake of students in the fall of 2013 for the newly created Brewmaster & Brewery Operations Management Diploma.
A two-year program that was developed in collaboration with Niagara College, also known as the home of Canada’s only teaching winery, which has been offering a two-year diploma for winemakers for many years.
Located in the heart of Canada’s wine country, Niagara College has long been recognized as our national leader in wine education, and is second only to the University of California at Davis, which has been performing viticulture research and education for decades.
Niagara College branched out from their teaching winery to start up their own brewing diploma program several years ago, and that same curriculum is now available at Olds College here in Alberta, the home of the best brewing barley in North America!
While the brewing program here in Alberta has just recently passed its first birthday, the student intake is at full capacity, and a long list of hopeful students are waiting in the wings.
In a major coup for Olds College, they were recently able to lure Calgary’s most famous brewmaster, a giant in the industry with over four decades of experience.
Faithful readers may deduce that I am referring to none other than Larry Kerwin, whose name has graced these pages many times over the years.
From his humble beginnings at the now-defunct Calgary Brewery over 40 years ago, which was acquired by Carling O’Keefe, and then later acquired by Molson.
Already a respected Brewmaster at Molson, Kerwin jumped ship in 1994 to an upstart young brewery called Big Rock, where his skilful ministrations helped Big Rock’s popularity skyrocket in the Alberta market and beyond.
TV fans may also remember Kerwin from the local TV show Beer Basics, which ran from 2002-2005, where he served as the on-air beer expert, sampling and critiquing many different beer styles in front of a beer-loving television audience. Your humble narrator received many of his early teachings from this very show!
After a brief retirement from Big Rock, he took over as Brewmaster at Okanagan Springs, then had barely retired again when the lure of starting up Calgary’s own Village Brewery became irresistible.
After a few years at Village Brewery, the septuagenarian master brewer felt he had much wisdom to impart to the young padawans in academia, so he pulled up stakes and joined Olds College as resident brewmaster in November 2013.
For those not appreciative of how big a deal this is for the apprentice brewers of today to receive tutelage under such a respected master, consider how giddy you might be if Mikhail Baryshnikov started teaching at your daughter’s ballet class, or if Jimi Hendrix popped into your son’s band class to teach them a few licks on the guitar.
Yes, gentle reader, a respected and accredited formal education for the brewers of tomorrow has been sorely needed for a long time in Alberta, with inconsistently applied industry-driven apprenticeships and variable levels of training being the norm for far too long.
If you happen to be driving between Calgary and Red Deer, take a quick detour off the QE2 into Olds, and pick up a 2 litre growler from the brewery located at the north end of the college campus. Your intrepid liquor reporter even made a special trip just to pick up samples of all 4 of their flagship beers!
