with the larger breweries, to work on the
other products such as the stout and red
ale,” Gillis said.
Partake Brewing won a World’s Best
award in the non-alcoholic category at the
World Beer Awards. Partake Brewing beers
are available for purchase across Canada
and are served in pubs and restaurants.
CCBI’s an experimental sandbox for
the craft-brewing industry
Partake Brewing is just one of CCBI’s collaboration
success stories – and there will
be many more. With a focus on applied
research, CCBI partners with craft brewers,
giving them access to a state-of-the-art
pilot brew line and lab with microanalytical
research services.
CCBI announced its official opening
at the Whitby campus on March 27, 2018.
With the help of another NSERC grant,
today the CCBI boasts a 50-litre pilot brew
line, which includes a mini brewing kettle,
mini lauter, heat exchanger, fermenters,
wort chiller and low-pressure steam boiler
and beer lab. Again, with the help of NSERC,
CCBI purchased an Anton Paar beer analysis
system, which helps researchers and
students measure the core parameters of
a beer, such as alcohol content, original
extract, real extract, degree of fermentation
and dissolved oxygen, from a single sample.
“That equipment can evaluate a broad
range of conditions and answer questions
such as does this brew meet alcohol content
by volume? Does it have a yeast contamination?
Are the cleaning processes
effective?” said Gillis.
With CCBI’s focus on applied research
and scientific processes, CCBI has a different
F E AT U R E
mandate than brewing schools. “CCBI
provides support by way of expertise and
facilities to craft brewers. The team helps
them with product development and innovation
and equipment development and
experimentation,” said Gillis. “We focus on
the development side or market-entering
type projects.”
Although CCBI does offer some
industry-specific courses delivered by
Corporate Training Services at DC, CCBI
focuses primarily on funded applied
research or fee-for-service projects.
However, CCBI does afford students from
DC’s programs, including skilled trades and
technologists, the opportunity to get handson
experience in the craft-brewing industry
through these projects. “We engage students
in other related areas, such as Horticulture
– Food and Farming where they learn lab
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