Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s (KPU) Brewing and Brewery Operations program is celebrating an exciting milestone.
The Langley-based diploma program is marking its 10-year anniversary in October and recognizing a bevy of alumni who are brewing unique and popular beers around the world.
As the only program of its kind in B.C., KPU offers hands-on experience and research opportunities, and continues to nurture brewers who craft exceptional beers and earn accolades locally, nationally and globally.
“Students are travelling from across the globe to come here. We have students from around the province, but we also have students from Brazil, China, Peru, and it’s exciting to see these students and graduates going out into the industry and making some cool beers in different places,” says Dominic Bernard, KPU Brewing and Brewery Operations Diploma program chair and instructor.
For the past 10 years, graduates from the program have landed jobs in many popular breweries, including ones right here in the Lower Mainland, such as Molson Coors, Trading Post Brewing and Yellow Dog Brewing.
For some alumni, including Jon Howe, the brewing program took what was once a hobby and turned it into a career. Howe now works at one of the largest brewing companies in North America.
“I took a course on industrial microbiology and we learned about fermenting beer, wine and ciders. Through that I got into home brewing — making beer in my basement. Then I found the KPU program, learned how to make beer properly and got into my career from there,” says Howe, who works as a Packaging Department Line Lead at Coors Molson in Chilliwack.
Others found jobs at breweries they volunteered at while students in the KPU program.
“I was volunteering at Trading Post a couple hours a week during my second year then right after I graduated, I started as the assistant brewer here,” says Shaun Kilby, Head Brewer at Trading Post Brewing in Langley.
Kilby is now the head brewer at Trading Post, curating all new beer on the menu.
KPU Brewing students have won numerous awards for the program throughout the past decade, including a third-place prize in the German Wheat Beer category at the Canada Beer Cup on Oct. 18, and another bronze in the International Lager category at the BC Beer Awards on Oct. 19.
To mark the milestone, alumni, students and instructors have collaborated to create a special BC Odyssey Pale Ale. The beer will be available for purchase at select private liquor stores and taprooms in BC and Alberta and alumni breweries.