The Spotlight is a series of interviews with the craft beer heroes behind local organizations who are helping grow the beer scene in our fine city. This week’s spotlight is on the Hops Connect Cup.
The Hops Connect Cup started in 2013 as a way to engage the young brewing crowd. It was a fabulous opportunity to see what kind of fun and creative beers these young minds were able to create. Stefan Lillos, of Hops Connect explains, “It’s about getting young brewers involved and cultivating their talents. Some of these young brewers see it as an unattainable thing to be a professional brewer and to be able to give them the opportunity to have a professional sized brew is what makes it great.” That’s the exact opportunity presented to Dirk Slot and his team from the University of Victoria (my Alma Mater, might I add!). UVic sent a small contingent to the mainland for the competition, but walked away with one of the most coveted prizes. One of their beers was deemed “Best in Show” and will be brewed (with the winners) at Deep Cove Brewers & Distillers to be enjoyed by beer drinkers across the province. Freyja Brau Porter, as it is called, has it’s own story. Dirk tells us that they had his friend’s daughter (named Freyja) pick the grain from a catalogue. They had vowed to work with whatever grain she chose, little did they know it would make a such a fabulous porter. Dirk was stunned when he was announced as the best beer of the day. In his words, “I’m kind of shocked, actually! I’ve made this beer a few times before and I liked it, which is why I submitted it. This is a good team recipe. I’m just, shocked!” Imagine how shocked Freyja will be if she sees her face on the bottle that comes out of production.
The overall winners of the day were the University of British Columbia Brew Club. Having come out with the best score overall, they were awarded the coveted Hops Connect Cup. Jon Pinkhasik, President of BrUBC, told us how the UBC team felt going into this year’s competition: “We were very nervous because we knew there were a lot of good brewers here. So, we were quite nervous. But I feel extremely fortunate to be associated with such great brewers.”
Simon Fraser University’s SFBrew got a very exciting prize for being runner up this year. They received a pin cask courtesy of CAMRA Vancouver complete with all the necessary gear to serve some traditional ale. This is the second year that CAMRA has donated a cask as a prize to this event. As Adam Chatburn, CAMRA Vancouver’s president explains, “CAMRA is very happy to award SFBrew with a pin cask so that they can learn how to create real cask ales and also how to serve them. The first one we gave to BruBC last year has been in constant use and we’re pleased to be able to continue this tradition by giving a practical prize that maybe wouldn’t be a priority purchase normally.”
Brendan Grills , President of SFBrew, mentioned a very exciting idea, “Since UBC won a cask last year, and we won a cask this year – seems like we need to have a cask off. My only stipulation, though, is that the first cask off we have is going to be a traditional English style.” Well, I gotta say, that’s fine by us, Brendan!
Disappointed you missed the Hops Connect Cup this year, and think you would like to attend next year? Don’t worry! There are no plans for this awesome event to stop. Stefan from Hops Connect tells us that it’s more about community than anything. ‘To get together and get feedback from professional judges in the industry, and building community. That’s what it’s all about, and that’s what it will continue to be. We want it to be the Vanier Cup of beer.” Nice!
David Perry – @davidjp87
Community Liaison – CAMRA BC, Vancouver Chapter
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