With a new brewery opening seemingly every week in this province, there are no shortage of plucky young brewers striking out on their own. We talked to a trio of young up-and-coming fermentologists about where they’ve been, where they’re going, and what they’re going to drink when they get there.
Who are you? Mauricio Lozano, operator/founder Faculty Brewing Co.
Age: 31
Hometown: Born and raised in Puebla, Mexico, but with mom's roots from Saint Geroges de Beauce, Quebec.
Brewing background: Like a lot of the other brewers in the craft beer scene I share a past in the macro beer world. I have worked in the food manufacturing industry all my career. Part of that career took me to Molson-Coors in the Burrard Street Brewery. My brewing fundamentals come from my bachelor’s in food engineering and my master’s in food science. I learned to brew in 2005 at the University of Leeds, UK. After returning to Mexico I tried to continue home brewing (with a lot of limitations in terms of ingredients and equipment). It was really when I moved to Vancouver in 2008, thanks to my good friend Hart Star-Crawford, that I got deeply into home brewing and the rest is history.
When did you realize you wanted to become a brewer? Every time I had had a very stressful food/beer manufacturing job, I quit it and worked for a couple of months as a barista or bartender before taking on to another one. That cycle has repeated a couple of times. I love to have customer interaction as well as a manufacturing involvement. When the tasting lounge rule changed in Vancouver around late-2012/early-2013 I realized I wanted to become a brewer. I wanted to be able to have that balance between customer interaction and manufacturing that I have lacked in my previous jobs.
How would you describe your personal brewing style? Collaborative and open-source. I love to receive criticism and debate with passionate brewers and homebrewers about recipes, ingredients, interactions, processes and implement those ideas in my recipes. That is possible since I disclose my recipes on our website. I am a firm believer that the next great beer will come from a lot of minds coming together and editing a recipe several times until greatness is achieved.
What was the first beer you tried that changed the way you thought about beer? Growing up in Mexico, there were only lagers to choose from. My good friend Yvan Duez came back from Europe with a six pack of Leffe Blond. That was the beer that changed my perception and opened my appetite to explore the beer world.
What was the first beer you ever brewed? Traditional English bitter, in 2005, in the Leeds University lab. Very malt forward, with a strong caramel and toffee taste.
Why is being a brewer the best job ever? The collaboration, mentorship and help from other brewers make being a brewer an amazing job. To make it even better, being a craft brewer with a small batch system, you have the opportunity to tweak every batch, to try or new ingredients and to adapt to new trends.
What’s your favourite BC brewery (other than your own)? This is such a tricky question because I love a lot of them. I am a huge fan of Callister Brewing and the collaborative model they have. However I think my favourite brewery is one in Mount Pleasant depending on the day: I love the variety of beers at Brassneck, the design and lifestyle of 33 Acres, the friendliness and snacks at Main Street, the cask engines and food at Steel Toad, the originality of R&B, the patio at Red Truck, the cask battles at Big Rock, etc.
What’s your favourite go-to beer at the end of the day? Usually something on the 7 per cent range, over 60 IBUs, dry-hopped and refreshing
If you could visit any brewery in the world, what one would it be? Dogfish Head, Delaware, US. I haven't been there and I am impressed by how they have paved for the craft beer industry in North America
Any advice for someone looking to get into home brewing? Your beer quality will keep improving with every batch. Great beers didn't happen in the first attempt.
What do you love most about the BC craft beer scene? How the quality has improved over the years. The variety of styles and the friendliness of the industry.
What do you think the BC craft beer scene is missing? BC is missing friendlier bureaucracies and municipalities that allow small breweries in other zonings. It will be ideal to have breweries that can reflect the character of each neighbourhood. For that to happen breweries should be allowed in other areas instead the typical industrial/light industrial zone.
Who are you? Ryan Parfitt, owner/head brewer, Luppolo Brewing Co.
Age: 32
Hometown: Vancouver
Brewing background: Home Brewer for 10 years.
When did you realize you wanted to become a brewer? Probably after my first trip to Portland, visiting all of the craft breweries down there and seeing everyone hanging out at their local spot enjoying the beers. It was a community-oriented vibe that I wanted as a part of my everyday life.
How would you describe your personal brewing style? Full-flavour beers. Whether it be hop-forward or yeast-forward, I love experimenting with different flavour profiles thereof.
What was the first beer you tried that changed the way you thought about beer? Probably Central City IPA. Until I first tried it about 10 years ago I wasn't drinking very good beer and I was like "Holy crap, what is this?" It was probably the first time I had really tasted hops.
What was the first beer you ever brewed? Strathcona Pale Ale, a recipe from Dan's Homebrew Supply. It was a partial mash, after that I switched to all grain.
Why is being a brewer the best job ever? It's not quite my job as we aren't open yet, but I am looking forward to the creativity of it and being able to see our customers enjoy it first hand.
What’s your favourite BC brewery (other than your own)? Four Winds produces some of the best beer I've had, in terms of hanging out in a tasting room I would say Brassneck or Strange Fellows.
What’s your favourite go-to beer at the end of the day? Brassneck Passive Aggressive
If you could visit any brewery in the world, what one would it be? Probably one of the original Trappist breweries in Belgium. There is so much history there and I'd love to see their old school open fermenters in action.
Any advice for someone looking to get into homebrewing? Go all-grain from the start, it takes a little longer but the higher quality product you end up with is well worth the extra time.
What do you love most about the BC craft beer scene? The community, everyone that I've met in the industry is so nice and welcoming. Everyone just wants to help each other out and grow the craft beer market together. It is the furthest thing from cutthroat you can imagine.
What do you think the BC craft beer scene is missing? I'd say there are a few things we're missing: more women in the industry, more local hop farms and more local maltsters. If we are talking about Vancouver alone then I would add patios to the list of what we're missing.
Who are you? Ashley Brooks, head brewer, Big Ridge Brewing Co.
Age: 29
Hometown: Lake Cowichan, BC
Brewing background: I was part of the inaugural class in Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s Brewing & Brewery Operations program, which I just graduated from this spring. During my time in the program, I was the assistant brewer at Yaletown Brewing Co. and trained under David Macanulty and Tariq Khan, a couple of talented brewers who helped me get going from the start. After YBC I became an assistant brewer at Bomber Brewing. Having the opportunity to brew with the team there was another fantastic experience, and I got to fine tune my skills on top of brewing some really great beer!
When did you realize you wanted to become a brewer? The first time it crossed my mind was during my microbiology and immunology bachelor’s degree at UBC. I was taking an industrial microbiology class where we talked about beer and wine fermentations and as an avid beer drinker I thought that this is an industry that suited me. After that it took me a couple years of travelling, working in the hospitality industry, continuously trying new beers and meeting brewer’s around town before deciding to go for it.
How would you describe your personal brewing style? Being such a new brewer I feel that I’m still developing my characteristic “style,” but as of right now I’m really into trying out new things and taking risks. Having a background in science, I feel like with brewing my creative side can really be explored, and it’s a very rewarding experience to be able to do both science and art in one.
What was the first beer you tried that changed the way you thought about beer? First one that really comes to mind is the Red Racer IPA by Central City. My mom actually got me into drinking IPAs back while I was still living on Vancouver island drinking nothing but Lucky Lager. She brought home a six-pack and we had a beer down by the creek behind our house. I just remember the magnificent hop explosion of grapefruit and pine, I was blown away!
What was the first beer you ever brewed? Probably an IPA I brewed with a fellow colleague of mine for the Hops Connect Cup homebrew competition. We didn’t place but I thought it was pretty good at the time, although if I drank it now I’m sure I would be able to pick out a flaw or two.
Why is being a brewer the best job ever? Because beer. Not only are you rewarded at the end of a hard day with the delicious fruits of your labour but you get to create something that you can share with others, and having someone tell you they enjoy your beer is extremely satisfying work. It feels good to make people happy!
What’s your favourite BC brewery (other than your own)? Definitely tough to pick a favourite, there’s so many people doing some really good stuff! I suppose I’d have to say Brassneck, I’ve been going there regularly since opening day drinking Passive Aggressive and I’ve always been in awe of their work.
What’s your favourite go-to beer at the end of the day? Right now I’m definitely been into my pineapple wheat ale! The combination of the pineapple with amarillo hops has a delicious fruity aroma with some nice tropical notes. I think it’s a great summertime beer, very refreshing! Look for it at VCBW!
If you could visit any brewery in the world, what one would it be? After visiting New Zealand last year I drank a lot of beer from this brewery called Tuatara, named after a type of lizard endemic to the area. All their beer is phenomenal; I especially like their Bohemian Pilsner, which was heavily hopped with some of my favourite NZ hops like Riwaka, Motueka and Nelson Sauvin. Not your traditional pilsner! I never had a chance to visit the brewery but would love to.
Any advice for someone looking to get into homebrewing? Speaking from someone without an extensive homebrewing background I’d say just start brewing however and wherever you can! Make friends and join groups, etc. The more you get doing it, the more you’ll start learning the process and start to create a repertoire of recipes.
What do you love most about the BC craft beer scene? I can’t get over the camaraderie, how everyone looks out for one another. There’s a lot of respect and love for the craft and everyone you meet in the industry is very passionate. It really is a great community to be apart of.
What do you think the BC craft beer scene is missing? I like how the craft beer scene in BC has been embraced by the public and businesses are really catching on by selling BC craft beer as well. I'd love to see some beer gardens pop up in the city that allow the sale and consumption of craft beer, that’d be pretty cool.
