He and his co-owner and wife, Cher Diller, are always looking for new ways to make the most of the ingredients on their dinner and drink menus to reduce waste. That attitude has not only earned the family-owned business kudos for its environmental consciousness but has also recently helped establish Strohan as one of the world’s top mixologists.

From Saskatoon to the global stage

This past April, he finished in the top three at the Torres Brandy Zero Challenge in Barcelona, an international competition that challenges competitors from across the globe to create the world’s most sustainable cocktail bar project. Strohan earned the right to represent Canada in Barcelona after finishing first at a national qualifier held in Montreal this past February. He was one of 12 contestants at the international event, which drew mixologists from as far away as Finland, Mexico, Norway and the United Kingdom.

His Forgotten Fruit project included a pitch to set up a website and a social media presence that community members could use to let staff know if they had excess fruit from trees in their yards. That excess fruit could then be turned into preserves, juices and cordials for use at Parlor and other businesses participating in the project. Although he didn’t win the competition’s $55,000 CAD grand prize, Strohan was thrilled to finish among the top three contestants.

“I was definitely very excited to make it into the top three, given that we’re from Saskatoon, and I was rubbing shoulders with some really well-recognized icons in the industry,” he said. “The other two [top finishers] were from bars that were on the World’s 50 Best Bars list and were in the top 20, so I was in very good company. Of course, I go into these competitions always striving to win, but getting recognized and making the top three is a pretty good accomplishment.”

From dishwasher to mixologist

St. Tropez Bistro is a second home for Strohan. He started working there as a dishwasher in his teens and held a variety of roles before eventually becoming head chef. A few years ago, he and his wife took over the restaurant’s day-to-day operations when his parents retired. They decided to open Parlor in a 1,100-square-foot second-floor space previously used for larger gatherings. Most of his time is now spent behind the bar, creating and serving cocktails. “I think part of what’s kept me … here is that I’m always picking up and learning something new,” he said.

Building a business around sustainability

A large part of the couple’s focus for their bar and restaurant is sustainability and minimizing the operation’s carbon footprint. As part of that focus, the bar sources local ingredients whenever possible for all the cordials, syrups and cocktails it serves. These include the city’s namesake Saskatoon berries as well as apples, raspberries, apricots, sea buckthorn and chokecherries. Some of the fruit is donated by neighbours who don’t know what to do with it all. The rest comes from trees or bushes on the couple’s property or from Strohan’s mom, Terry, who provides 100 to 150 pounds of raspberries from her backyard each summer.

Something we have really put an emphasis on … is utilizing small, local producers. The product is typically a little bit more expensive, but it’s of better quality. It’s part of that circular economy that’s proving to be more and more important every day.

Jason Strohan, St. Tropez Bistro

Strohan says the inspiration for his bar and restaurant’s environmentally conscious approach has been twofold. As small business owners, he and his wife are frugal and always look for ways not to waste product or money. They also want to be environmentally responsible by maximizing the use of the ingredients they require and creating less food waste.

“Being here in Saskatchewan, we have to import so much of our produce, especially in the winter months,” he said. “By taking our local products and using some preservation techniques and freezing juice, we can really eliminate a lot of those transportation [CO2 emissions] that come from the big trucks or ships that send it across the world or just across the country.”

Not only is the couple’s approach helping preserve the natural environment, but it’s also creating high-end cocktails that can’t be found anywhere else.

Turning local ingredients into signature cocktails

Parlor uses citrus peels in combination with a neutral grain spirit like vodka, adds sugar, and lets the mixture sit for a couple of weeks to create their own version of limoncello (a sweet Italian liqueur) called citrus-cello. “It turned out fantastic,” Strohan said. “I think it’s as good as any commercially bought limoncello that you can get.”

In addition, some not-quite-ripe apples are picked and run through a cold-press juicer to produce a liquid that closely matches the taste and acidity of lemons, which is used as a lemon substitute in some cocktails. This not only saves money on supplies and transportation, but it also reduces CO2 emissions. “With the cost of produce … it’s starting to actually make financial sense in terms of the amount of labour you have to put in to utilize these local ingredients in various ways,” he said.

Strohan acknowledges that such a focus on hyper-local and seasonal ingredients has its challenges. For one thing, he can’t plan his cocktail menu too far in advance because he’s not always sure which ingredients might be available, when he can acquire them or how plentiful they will be. For example, chokecherries might be readily available one year but hard to come by the next.

It can also be a labour-intensive affair. Raspberries must be simmered in a pot for several hours, then pressed through a fine-mesh sieve to remove any seeds and finally processed in a steamer juicer that separates the berry’s juice from any skins or pits. The skins are then dehydrated and ground into a powder that can be used as a garnish for the rim of a glass, leaving virtually no waste. It’s not unusual for Strohan and his wife to spend up to 20 hours every few weeks foraging for items such as Saskatoons, chokecherries and currants on a piece of property they own just south of Saskatoon.

“I don’t even know how many hours of labour we put into it … but I think it shows that sense of pride in our local ingredients,” he said. “And it really showcases some of our local ingredients here. The out-of-town or out-of-country travellers really love to see a product that uses something local, and they’re interested in trying it.”

That hyper-local approach has required Strohan and Diller to develop and maintain close relationships with local suppliers, such as producers and distillers.

“Something we have really put an emphasis on … is utilizing small, local producers,” he said. “We have some great relationships that we have built. The product is typically a little bit more expensive, but it’s of better quality. And it’s important to keep that money in the community…. It’s part of that circular economy that’s proving to be more and more important every day.”

Beyond the bar

As much as Strohan is enjoying today, he is also keeping a keen eye on what lies ahead for the beverage industry. He believes that the attention being paid to the use of local ingredients will continue to grow over the next five to 10 years, especially on the Canadian Prairies.

“People are really trying to utilize local ingredients. That’s something that I see popping up with bartenders in other countries, but especially here in Canada. With Canada being such a large, diverse landscape, we’ve got so much interesting variety across the country, and that’s really helping us stand out on the global market.”

In November, the prestigious Siebel Institute of Technology brewing school announced that it will relocate from Chicago to Montreal. In a press release, the school confirmed the move was effective Jan. 1, 2026, but didn’t provide a date for when classes would begin at its new location.

The Siebel Institute is the oldest brewing school in North America. It was founded by German-born chemist John Ewald Siebel, Ph.D., in Chicago in 1868. It was originally known as the John E. Siebel Chemical Laboratory before being renamed the Siebel Institute in 1872, and it has called Chicago home since its opening.

The new location will be at 3035 rue Sainte-Catherine near the former Molson Brewery site in downtown Montreal. That site is part of a planned $2.5 billion redevelopment aimed at revitalizing the city’s downtown core, which will also include a public park and waterfront walkway, retail spaces and some 5,000 new housing units. Siebel Institute, which is owned by Lallemand Inc., cited changes in the brewing industry, rising operational costs and challenges obtaining student visas to enter the U.S. as reasons for the move.

“Recent regulatory changes in the U.S. have made it much more challenging for many of our international students, who have become the majority of our student body, to attend classes in person. This relocation of North America classroom operations to Montreal allows us to pivot without sacrificing the student experience,” Siebel Institute’s general manager and director of education, John Hannafan, said in the news release.

Montreal’s brewing industry reacts

Philippe Roy, vice-president of Beer Canada for Montreal, says he was pleasantly surprised to learn Siebel Institute was relocating to Montreal. Neither he nor his organization had any advance knowledge of the move.

He says he has seen two reactions from those in the industry. “The first was to say that it’s very good news…. It’s the oldest school for beer in North America, so their coming to Canada seemed to send a message that brewing in Canada is going well. But at the same time, we all felt that it was kind of normal … because we all feel that Quebec and Montreal are the cradle of beer in North America.

“In Canada, beer is still the number one alcohol beverage that people consume. We feel it’s a special beverage that can define Canada so we’re very happy about the Siebel Institute coming and joining us here in Montreal,” said Roy.

We’ll have access to high-quality training, and that will benefit all brewers in Canada.

Philippe Roy, Beer Canada

Marie-Eve Myrand, executive director of the Quebec Microbrewery Association, says she, too, was surprised to learn about Siebel Institute’s move. “We were not part of the decision or the discussion around that, but we were pleased to be informed,” said Myrand, whose organization lobbies government, promotes the brewing industry and provides production support to member brewers. “It’s a very prestigious institute.”

Myrand says the addition of the Siebel Institute to Montreal’s brewing landscape will help to make up for the recent loss of the brewing sciences certificate program at Bishop’s University.

The Bishop’s program was established by chemistry professor Dale Wood in 2015 and offered a graduate opportunity that blended chemistry, creativity and entrepreneurship. During its time, the program and its students helped develop more than 500 recipes, several of which were in partnership with Quebec-based microbreweries.

While it’s difficult to determine what kind of economic impact Siebel Institute’s move to Montreal might have on the city, Roy predicts it could have a huge effect on the brewing ecosystem, not only in Quebec, but across the country. “We’ll have access to high-quality training, and that will benefit all brewers in Canada. We already have schools that offer brewers education, but having one more, and one more here in Montreal, that’s giving brewers new access to highly qualified people [who] are going to work in their breweries,” he said.

It’s always good news for brewers to have an opportunity to improve knowledge and be at the top of the best practices.

Marie-Eve Myrand, Quebec Microbrewery Association

Myrand says the move will benefit brewers in Quebec and other parts of the country by creating a larger pool of talent to draw from. “It’s going to be very exciting,” she said. “It’s always good news for brewers to have an opportunity to improve knowledge and be at the top of the best practices. I think there will now be more opportunities for brewers to be part of that kind of improvement.”

Roy says he hopes to speak with someone from the school soon to work out the details of a scholarship that Beer Canada is looking to offer to students there. He is also anxious to learn more about the academic programming Siebel Institute will offer once its Montreal campus is up and running.

“I’m sure they’re going to want to adapt. It’s the same product, it’s still beer, but the Canadian way is a little bit different than what we see in the U.S. brewing industry, so I’m sure they intend to adapt their information to being in Canada,” he said.

Myrand is also curious about how Siebel Institute will adapt to its new surroundings, especially regarding the province’s language laws. “A good beer is a good beer. But being in business in Montreal, I think it’s mandatory to have an offering in French. It’s a very personal opinion, and not the association’s position, but I would find it [difficult] to have just an English version of all the information,” she said.

While the team will hopefully give their fans in the stands plenty of on-ice reasons to celebrate, they may also want to raise a glass to toast the suds in their cup. True North Sports + Entertainment, the hockey club’s parent company, recently installed a new, state-of-the-art treatment system to clean the lines that supply those tasty suds to the more than 300 beer taps located throughout the downtown Winnipeg entertainment venue.

The system, known as Draught Guard, is manufactured by a Milwaukee-based company of the same name. It uses a proprietary water treatment technology originally developed for the oil and gas industry to manage mineral fouling and biological growth and is now in use at health-care facilities, power plants and Fortune 100 companies across North America.

How it works is relatively simple. A control unit measuring five by seven inches connects to a signal transformer ring that is seven inches in diameter and wraps around the outside of up to 12 beer lines, which supply suds to the beer taps. The small unit emits a low-frequency radio signal throughout the entire line regardless of its length. The system then works in the background 24/7 to prevent the buildup of biofilm and calcium oxalate (beer stone) and provide protection of the product being served on tap.

What we do is we actually send that radio frequency into the beer itself. We use the conductivity of that beer to move the signal. That signal will follow the conductivity, the beer, the water, whatever is in that line, as far as it’s going.

Jackson Cosgriff, Draught Guard

Jackson Cosgriff, business development manager for the company, describes the Draught Guard unit as a “fancy a.m. radio” in terms of how it functions.

“What we do is we actually send that radio frequency into the beer itself. We use the conductivity of that beer to move the signal. That signal will follow the conductivity, the beer, the water, whatever is in that line, as far as its going,” he said. “Wherever there’s fluid, the signal will follow. That means downstream to the taps and the beer tower, and upstream to the keg as well. What that does is it makes it difficult for bacteria, biofilm, mould [and] mineral scale to actually adhere (inside the line). We’re putting a charge on all the particles that are in there and kind of making them behave. We make it difficult for that microbial activity to thrive and cling to the beer lines.”

Although the technology used in Draught Guard has been around for some time, it wasn’t until fairly recently that the parent company that developed it began to look at how it could be used in other industries, including the beer industry.

Draught Guard was launched in 2018, and soon after, the company began working with several major sports stadiums, breweries and brewing institutes to analyze and test how the product could work with draught beer. Several studies were conducted, including one commissioned by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers through the University of Pittsburgh that showed a 98 per cent reduction of biofilm. It remains the only non-chemical system to have passed to date.

Cosgriff and director of business development Kevin Brauer say the beauty of the Draught Guard system is that it can dramatically reduce the amount of time and money users spend on cleaning draught lines compared to the traditional method of flushing a caustic or alkaline chemical through the line using water and a recirculating pump. The chemical cleaning method requires users to clean their draught lines every two weeks.

By comparison, those same lines need only be cleaned every 12 weeks using the Draught Guard technology. That means far less beer has to be dumped (about 85 per cent less) when the lines need to be cleaned and staff can be deployed to other tasks. There’s also a huge sustainability component to Draught Guard, Brauer says. As the lines using the system only need to be chemically cleaned four times a year compared to 26 using more traditional methods, far less beer, chemicals and CO2 are being dumped into the sewer system.

Best of all, the radio frequency Draught Guard uses has no impact on the composition of the beer going through the draught lines. If anything, it helps to preserve the original flavour profile of the beer that is being poured. “Draught Guard will not have any effect on the inherent flavour or nature of that beer. There’s no vibration. There’s no actual changing of the technical chemistry of the beer,” Cosgriff said, adding that a draught system’s taps and couplers, which attach to kegs, must still be routinely cleaned since they come into contact with oxygen. “Basically, it allows the beer to taste more like itself and not become degraded because of biofilm and beer stone that might clog the line.”

Chris Milton, senior manager of logistics and procurement for True North, says his company first learned about Draught Guard during a conversation with the food and beverage team at Madison Square Garden in New York. They did some follow-up investigations and were so impressed by what they learned they hired Draught Guard to install 32 units at Canada Life Centre in July 2025.

“Having over 300 beer taps throughout the building, we thought it would be the perfect addition to our already extensive beer line cleaning schedule,” he said. “Cleaning the beer lines is a process all in itself, and by installing Draught Guard, we maintain the highest quality possible when it comes to the product we are serving our guests. We are always looking to enhance and elevate our patrons’ experience for every event they attend, and we are excited to say that our draft beer system is continuing that process even after the Winnipeg Jets have left the ice, the concert has loaded out, the staff have gone home and the lights are turned off.”

Canada Life Centre is one of two high-profile Canadian sports venues to turn to Draught Guard. The company has also been working with the team at Rogers Centre, home to Major League Baseball’s Toronto Blue Jays, where its system has been installed at a growing number of bars and concessions stands.

The Draught Guard system is relatively easy to set up, regardless of the size of the venue where it is being installed. The control unit can be mounted on nearly any wall or surface near where the draught lines run. The only caveat is that it must be near a power source where it can be plugged in. The unit is then connected via a cord to the signal transformer ring that wraps around the draught lines to send the radio signal through the line and is secured in place with a hose clamp. Each unit takes about 15 minutes to install.

“We don’t actually have to cut or splice or remove any of the existing infrastructure. Any retrofit application, which is a majority of what we do, we install onto existing draft systems, like we did at Canada Life Centre,” Cosgriff said, adding the only challenging part of the installation process can sometimes be the organization of any excess cord.

In the case of Canada Life Centre, it took less than eight hours to install all 32 Draught Guard units required to complete the job. Brauer and his crew have nothing but positive things to say about their experience of working with the team at True North. “They were great: very prompt, timely and they didn’t waste time, which was very much appreciated on our end,” he said. “They were also very enthusiastic. It kind of goes without saying we want to work with people who want our product. It goes to show when they’re just as excited, if not more excited than we are to show up and to do the install, that’s a good thing. They’re trying to increase and bolster the fan experience, and they definitely saw value in our product.”

Milton says True North has been pleased with how the Draught Guard system has performed to date, adding it requires very little attention outside of regularly checking its monitors to ensure it’s performing the way it’s supposed to.

“Since the initial install we haven’t had any issues when it comes to the equipment, and all of the 32 units in the building have worked flawlessly with no breakdowns or interruptions to our daily operation,” he said. “We have some beer lines in the building that are travelling over 300 feet from the beer keg cooler to the taps, and the Draught Guard system works perfectly with these long runs. Also, by extending the line cleaning, we are using [fewer] chemicals to clean the insides of the beer lines, which is great for the environment as well.”

Cosgriff and Brauer are both excited about Draught Guard’s potential for continued growth. The company has entered into a partnership with Perlick, one of North America’s largest beverage refrigeration and dispensing companies, that will see Draught Guard installed in all new Perlick manufactured draught beer systems. They also see plenty of opportunity for the company to expand its footprint in terms of the Canada draught beer landscape.

“We would love to,” Cosgriff said, laughing. “Draught beer is extremely popular in Canada, just as it is down here in the States and with keg costs being that much higher in Canada, it’s certainly an opportunity where we can provide that much more value. We’re exploring a couple of different routes of distribution and partners that we can work with, and that’s definitely something we’re aiming towards.”

Poured Canada spoke with five Canadian colleges and universities about the different educational opportunities they offer for those interested in a career in the beverage-alcohol industry. Here’s what they had to say.

Brock University

The Cool Climate Oenology and Viticulture Institute was established at Ontario’s Brock University in 1996. The institute was formed in conjunction with the southern Ontario wine industry. Its three main mandates are to conduct research, provide outreach services to the local wine industry, and offer professional and continuing educational opportunities.

As part of its educational program, the institute offers more than 20 professional and continuing studies courses for people who want to enter the industry or upgrade their skills. These short-term courses, accredited through the province with micro-credential certification, range from foundations in winemaking, introduction to grape growing and using effective social media in marketing wines.

Additionally, Brock offers Canada’s only four-year university degree program in Applied Grape and Wine Science through its Department of Biological Sciences that focuses on winemaking, viticulture and marketing, including subjects such as wine chemistry and plant physiology.

For students with prior scientific training with a bachelor of science in a related field, a one-year certificate in grape and wine technology is also an option, where students take grape and wine-specific courses to be industry-ready. Both program options serve upwards of three dozen students in any given school year with a 96 per cent placement rate of graduates into the industry upon graduation.

Jennifer Kelly, the institute’s senior scientist of oenology, says part of what makes the school’s four-year degree program unique is the fact it’s been designed to be very hands-on. After gaining background education in relevant scientific disciplines such as chemistry and environmental biology in Years 1 and 2, students are given their own grapes as part of a wine processing course in which they will take those grapes from vine to wine. That includes everything from planning how they want to make their wine at the institute’s pilot winery to designing a label and bottling the finished product.

The institute also offers a co-op education stream as part of its four-year degree program, where students are provided three four-month work terms at wineries in the region and other parts of the country. “Students at the fourth-year thesis level get to engage in applied research projects, often partnered with industry members. The experience of solving real-world problems gives them an opportunity to work with different growers or winemakers. That sets them up for great success going forward with their careers,” Kelly said.

The institute’s first graduating class was in 2000. While many of those students have gone on to succeed in southern Ontario, British Columbia and other parts of Canada, a large number are now employed in other parts of the world, including Australia, New Zealand and across the U.S. The best part, Kelly says, is that it’s a tight-knit group and they often share industry opportunities with fellow alumni.

Kwantlen Polytechnic University

Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s (KPU) Brewing Program was launched in 2014. Hundreds of its graduates have gone on to work in the craft brewing industry in southern B.C., where the school is based, as well as in other parts of the country and around the world. The program accommodates up to 35 students per school year. The majority come from B.C., but the program also attracts learners from other parts of the country and even as far away as Switzerland, South America and Asia. They range in age from 19 to 60 years-plus.

Students receive a diploma in brewing and brewery operations as part of a two-year, full-time program or a three- or four-year, part-time program. The school also offers a one-year certificate program in brewing as well as micro-credential courses on subjects such as brewing science, beer sensory evaluation and the business of brewing, which are popular with people working in the industry seeking to upgrade their existing skills. The three foundational pillars of the program are: to provide students with the hands-on skills needed to work in a brewery, to teach them the science behind brewing, and to furnish them with the foundational information needed to operate or own a brewery.

Alek Egi, program chair and brewing instructor at KPU, says one of the things that makes the school’s brewing program unique is the emphasis it places on the science of brewing. The school has rigorous science-based requirements for student applicants. Meanwhile, instructors Egi and Dominic Bernard have master’s degrees in food science and brewing, respectively, while colleague Martina Solano Bielen holds a master’s in microbiology.

Another factor that sets the KPU brewing program apart is its standalone, registered manufacturing brewery located right on campus that was designed for teaching. It features a state-of-the-art, four-vessel pilot system that was donated by a local brewing equipment manufacturer, giving students the opportunity to work directly with professional-grade tools. It’s also home to a tap station, where the finished products from the program’s practical brewing courses are sold by students to customers every Friday afternoon, providing real-world experience in both production and customer-service aspects of the industry.

Kwantlen’s program has received numerous accolades from the brewing industry, including multiple B.C. Beer Awards and being named Brewery of the Year in 2019. It also won the U.S. Open college beer competition that same year.

Acadia University

Acadia University in Wolfville, N.S., launched its Applied Bioscience program in fall 2024. A total of 12 students are currently enrolled in the program, and school officials expect that number to double in 2026. Students receive a bachelor of science upon graduation from the four-year degree program. Matthew Lukeman, an assistant dean and a professor of chemistry, says the program is a mix of biology and chemistry that aims to provide students with real-world work experience and research opportunities in the beverage industry as well as the biopharma sector.

“The program was actually created in response to economic demands within our province in two sectors,” he said. “One was beverage, not just wine, but also beer, craft drinks and all sorts of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. People from industry had been coming to us over the years, saying they would love it if we could have a program that would help people develop the skills that would aid in fuelling the growth of that industry.”

If you think of the top wineries in the province … like Stratus, Tawse, Inniskillin, these are all run by graduates of ours.

Craig Youdale, Niagara College

The program’s Science and Business of Beverage stream emphasizes beverage production, marketing and analysis. There is a heavy focus on biochemistry and organic chemistry, including cell and molecular biology. An embedded business minor provides students with an appreciation for the business realities that go along with the science side of things and includes a minimum of six courses in various business disciplines, such as marketing and accounting.

Part of what makes Acadia’s program unique is its built-in co-op placement component, Lukeman says. Students receive up to 12 months of co-op placements at local vineyards and craft breweries, where they work alongside experienced industry professionals to gain practical experience. They get to work side-by-side with researchers at the university on a variety of projects, including a study of grape varieties and chemical analysis of different wine products. The program also offers a course on sensory analysis, which is taught through the university’s Nutrition and Dietetics department. As part of the course, students learn how the different components of a wine can influence an individual’s sensory experience.

In addition to the Applied Bioscience program, the university is home to the Acadia Laboratory for Agri-Food and Beverage (ALAB), which is an ISO-accredited, fee-for-service lab that provides chemical testing of beverage products. Each school year, the lab employs three co-op students who receive an opportunity to work with the lab’s three technicians using an array of state-of-the-art instruments.

“What’s unique about it is that in bigger labs, the students often only ever work on one instrument. But in our lab, because it’s so small, most students have the opportunity to work with and be trained on ALAB’s instruments,” said Katrin Sommerfeld, Acadia’s manager of industry and community partnerships.

Niagara College

Niagara College’s School of Wine, Beer and Spirits is located on the institution’s Daniel J. Patterson Campus in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont. About 100 students take part in the program’s three disciplines each academic year. It has the distinction of being one of the first academic institutions in Canada to offer training specifically for the beverage-alcohol industry.

The school’s three core programs are its two-year Winery and Viticulture Technician program, the two-year Brewmaster and Brewery Operations Management program and the one-year Graduate Certificate in Artisan Distilling program. It also offers a one-year Beverage Business Management certificate program that provides an education on all aspects of the global alcoholic beverage industry, including business, retail, export, marketing and navigating a highly regulated environment.

Each of the three core programs has its own commercial production facility located on the university’s 125-acre campus. That includes:

• The Niagara College Teaching Winery, which was established in 2000 and offers students a chance to learn from industry. professionals and create up to 5,000 bottles of wine annually.
• The Niagara Teaching Brewery, a 1,500-square-foot micro-brewery facility.
• The Niagara Teaching Distillery, a 2,500-square-foot facility that features five stills, four mash tins and 10 fermenters used for on-site production of a variety of distilled spirits that produces 500 bottles of spirits each year.

The school is also home to a 40-acre, on-campus vineyard. In addition, it grows its own botanicals, hops and tender fruit for use in its distilling and brewing programs. Craig Youdale, the college’s dean of culinary, tourism and beverage, says what makes the School of Wine, Beer and Spirits unique is the fact that it provides students an opportunity to be involved in every aspect of production, from growing the grapes used in wine production and hops used in brewing to bottling the finished products and creating marketing campaigns for them.

“They are all really unique programs,” he said. “There aren’t any others in the country … like them that have the level of hands-on education. When I say hands-on, it’s the real deal. We’re even showing people how to drive a tractor.”

The school has also developed close relationships with several wineries, breweries and distilleries in the region and other parts of the country. That includes Labatt Brewing and Molson Coors on the beer side, and several of the most respected wineries in the region. As a result, students in the program are regularly placed at those facilities where they receive valuable, first-hand experience that can help propel their careers down the road.

“It’s actually pretty tough to find a winery in Niagara that doesn’t have one of our grads,” Youdale said. “If you think of the top wineries in the province … like Stratus, Tawse, Inniskillin, these are all run by graduates of ours. We have tons of graduates that have started their own brewery and they’re owner-operators. We also have a lot of head brewers in different operations across the system.”

Youdale says one of the school’s future priorities will be providing more people access to its programs. That could include opening it up to more people from other parts of the country as well as offering some form of online programming. Beverage Business Management is expected to become an online offering in 2026. Several courses within the School of Wine, Beer and Spirits are also open to part-time students – including Wines of Europe, Wines of the Americas and Southern Hemisphere, and History of Brewing and Beer for the Winter 2026 term.

Durham College

Durham College’s Whitby campus in southern Ontario is home to the Centre for Craft Beverage Innovation (CCBI), which collaborates with both established and novice craft beer, hard cider, kombucha and seltzer makers on everything from formulating new recipes to testing new ingredients and production methods. The centre’s mandate is to share its technical knowledge with beverage makers and provide entrepreneurial expertise to help industry partners turn technical innovation into business success.

Even though the CCBI is located on a college campus, it’s not a brewing school per se. Most of the people who work at the centre are paid staff. However, a small number of Durham students do take part in research projects at the centre each year. Those students receive instructions on lab protocols and how to conduct proper testing. The idea is to provide them with hands-on experience so they can learn to interpret test results.

With hands-on training, strong industry partnerships and impressive graduate placement rates, one thing is clear: the path to a career in beverage alcohol increasingly begins in the classroom.

The Centre collaborates with both established and novice craft beer, hard cider, kombucha and seltzer makers on everything from formulating new recipes to testing the new ingredients and production methods.

The CCBI was established in 2014 thanks to a grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. Since then, it has worked with dozens of beverage makers in southern Ontario and other parts of the country to develop new products, production tools and testing methods. Robin Young, the College’s director of business development and corporate training, says the CCBI’s purpose is two-fold. First and foremost, it’s there to share its technical knowledge with beverage makers. Secondly, it aims to share its entrepreneurial expertise to help industry partners turn technical innovation into business success.

One of the things that sets the CCBI apart from similar research centres is the fact that its home to a state-of-the-art testing lab and facility. That includes a commercial-grade pilot line, or “baby” brewing line, that features 100-litre hot liquor tanks, a 50-litre mash and lauter tun to release malt sugars and two 100-litre conical fermenters. It’s also home to an Anton Paar finished beer analysis system that provides real-time data on alcohol content, extract levels, carbon dioxide and other quality characteristics.

“We have a lab [that] I would say is arguably one of the best or among the best finished beer or beverage labs in Canada. We have full analytical and micro capability,” said Chris Gillis, the College’s manager of applied research business development, who helped found the Centre.

In addition to housing some of the latest in beverage making and testing technology, the CCBI also has a wealth of brewing expertise. Its brewing expert has more than 35 years of experience in the industry, while its fermentation expert is a doctor of philosophy on the subject and worked for decades with one of North America’s largest brewing companies. Gillis says the Centre works with between six and 12 industry partners in a typical year. Some are repeat customers looking to develop a new product on a large scale and want to produce a new batch or two every month. Others are newcomers to the business looking to develop a new recipe or test the impact of a new ingredient in a seltzer or kombucha on a one-time basis.

One of the CCBI’s most notable collaborations was with Partake Brewing, one of the first non-alcoholic craft brewers in Canada. Launched in 2017, Partake’s products are now available at major retailers in both Canada and the U.S., and they have won multiple brewing awards including multiple World Beer Awards. While he can’t share details of CCBI’s work with Partake, Gillis says the Centre “hit it out of the park” with that early collaboration.

“What I think is super important about that [collaboration] is it really identifies the value that colleges can bring to Canadian industry when you look at what [Partake] has done,” he said. “They’ve done a spectacular job to go from being on Dragon’s Den in 2015, barely a start-up, to basically going to nationwide distribution. They’ve really owned that category.”

The CCBI also partnered with Ontario Craft Brewers (OCB) and the Ontario Hop Growers Association as part of an Ontario hop terroir research project. The aim of the project was to analyze hops from different parts of Ontario to determine if where they were grown impacted their flavour profile and, if so, how that flowed into a finished beer. Gillis says the Centre was pleased with the results of the project, even though research ground to a halt during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Centre is currently working on another collaboration with the OCB which is focused on the roll out of a quality management system designed specifically for the craft brewing industry. Once it’s rolled out in Ontario, it’s expected the implementation system will be shared with other provinces, including Alberta and New Brunswick, both of which participated in the development. Gillis and Young both say the Centre’s collaborations with industry partners can be something of a balancing act. While its research work is important, the CCBI must also focus on developing solutions that help address the everyday challenges its partners face.

“We really focus on what the client’s needs are,” Gillis said. “We look at it as industrial problem solving. Fundamentally, it’s about the challenge our client company is having. Is it technical? Is it training? It’s really about trying to be outwardly focused on what the customer’s needs are and striking a balance.”

“We design everything with our partners, not for our partners,” Young said. “Whether it’s product trials or skills programming, you’re starting with the challenge and you’re working backwards from there together. That’s why everything the CCBI does is so relevant … it’s grounded in what the local businesses actually need.”

We design everything with our partners, not for our partners. Whether it’s product trials or skills programming, you’re starting with the challenge and you’re working backwards from there together. That’s why everything the CCBI does is so relevant … it’s grounded in what the local businesses actually need.

Robin Young, Centre for Craft Beverage Innovation

Even though the CCBI is located on a college campus, it’s not a brewing school per se. Most of the people who work at the Centre are paid staff. However, a handful of Durham students from a number of different faculties do take part in the Centre’s projects each year. Those students receive instructions on lab protocols and how to conduct proper testing. The aim is to provide them with hands-on experience so they can learn to interpret test results. That includes helping develop new recipes, and conducting testing and interpreting the results for industry partners.

While the number of students who take part in the CCBI’s efforts each year is relatively small, many move on to careers in the brewing industry. In one recent class, one student moved on to a full-time job with contract brewer Brunswick Bierworks in Toronto, another landed a gig with Equals Brewing Company in London, Ont., and a third was hired by Molson Coors to work at its brewing lab in Chilliwack, B.C.

“We’ve actually been pretty successful in that regard,” Gillis said. “They all [moved on] because of the hands-on experience they gained here and the equipment that they were able to use, and the understanding that they gained on what the results mean with respect to the process.”

It’s no secret the craft brewing industry has struggled of late. Razor-thin margins and increased production costs have forced some brewers to shut their doors. However, Gillis remains bullish about the industry’s future. One reason for his optimism is the increasing interest in low-alcohol beers and seltzers. Not only is it another market for brewers to tap, it’s also a great way for them to help reduce their production costs.

“If you take one of your really popular beverages that’s maybe five or 5.2 ABV and you cut it in half, lots of times you don’t lose very much in the way of mouth feel or taste that you might see in the [non-alcohols],” he said.

Young says the CCBI will continue to work closely with the College’s corporate services division to provide more training and consulting opportunities for business partners. Those opportunities will likely include a focus on corporate team development, improving production processes and guidance on how companies can remain competitive. Formerly known as the Centre for Craft Brewing Innovation, the CCBI was rebranded this past spring to better reflect the fact that its focus has expanded to include a wider range of beverages.

Gillis says the Centre will continue to investigate new products and production techniques. It recently partnered with the school’s AI hub to develop a new beer recipe that factored in several considerations, including water treatment. “It was quite instructive to go through that and see how [AI] works. And it turned out to be a pretty good beer,” he said.

Gillis is excited about the latest addition to the CCBI’s technology lineup. It recently purchased a second Anton Paar system known as the Animo 3100. It’s essentially a lab on wheels that looks like a cross between a lab cart and a shopping cart. The beauty of the machine is that it can be taken anywhere and can produce test results on the spot in a few moments.

“I think it’s going to be super interesting and beneficial. One of the tricky things for operations right now is if you’re trying to dial in your process controls at various stages, you have to take samples at the line and then take them into a lab … [and] there’s a time delay. With this piece of equipment, you can actually hook it up to an input or output line … and you get live, real-time results of ABV, carbon dioxide, oxygen, etc.,” said Gillis.

A New Brunswick-based company is tapping into that interest, and it could have a profound impact on the way many craft wine, beer and spirits makers go about producing their products. The Smart Energy Company is a renewable energy developer based in Upper Golden Grove, N.B. It was founded by brothers and co-CEOs Jeff McAloon and his brother, Mark, in 2016.

The company’s signature product is the NOREASTER, a modular, stackable micro solar energy system designed to power farms located in regions that experience significant snowfall, fog and wind. While the system can be used on virtually any farm, it has become particularly popular among craft spirits producers in Eastern Canada. Verger Belliveau Orchard, a family-owned business in Memramcook, N.B., that produces ciders and wines, and Blue Roof Distillers, which produces a potato-based vodka in Malden, N.B., are among its adopters.

The ground-mounted system is a 34-foot-long, 10-kilowatt solar array that converts energy from the sun into alternating current electricity using an inverter contained within the unit. Its modular design means that it can be scaled to meet the energy requirements of any size of operation. Jeff says one of the main reasons the NOREASTER is a good fit for producers in the beverage-alcohol sector is the fact that it offers producers control over their energy costs.

“Buying your electricity to produce fruit or … harvesting the fruit to produce a final beverage can be a very energy-intensive activity,” Jeff said. “Right now, most of those producers are essentially renting their electricity from the utility. If they start to take over the generation of the electricity themselves, that’s a cost they can now eliminate or have fixed for the next 40 or 50 years, which can add up to a pretty significant saving.”

Another asset that makes the NOREASTER attractive to beverage producers is its modular design, which allows users to start small and expand down the road when it is convenient. It also means the system can be configured in a variety of different ways to minimize the amount of space the land-based system requires, an important consideration for producers trying to maximize the amount of harvestable land available to them.

“We don’t want to take up valuable crop space, so we’ve designed them [to be installed] in small chunks,” Jeff said. “Some farmers may need just one NOREASTER to offset a meaningful amount of electricity. Others may need 10, others may need 50 and others may need 120. It’s meant to be scalable.”

Where it once would have taken 15 years or more for a solar system to pay for itself, that timeframe has now shrunk to four to six years, thanks to increased electrical costs and improved government rebates and incentives for alternate forms of energy production.

The system is an ideal fit for producers who have adopted agrivoltaics principles, a dual-use land approach that combines solar energy production with agricultural production. Not only does it provide cheaper energy, but it is also capable of protecting crops or soil from harsh conditions such as heavy rains or strong winds, Jeff adds.

The NOREASTER is both manufactured and distributed by The Smart Energy Company. The brothers started out using solar power systems manufactured by other companies, but quickly discovered they couldn’t stand up to the harsh winds and wicked ice storms that many East Coast communities endure. That led to them designing their own system in conjunction with researchers at the University of New Brunswick and the Saint John Energy utility company.

“One of our earliest customers was a dairy farmer. He called us one day after a particularly harsh winter storm and said ‘Boys, my solar panels are flying through the field. Is that supposed to happen?’” Jeff recalled. “I can laugh about it now, but we weren’t laughing at the time. We spent a year going back and fixing and rewelding and beefing things up. It’s now built to be robust for any kind of storm that can be thrown at it, hence the name.”

The NOREASTER comes with a 50-year warranty. It costs about $25,000 per kit and that price can climb to about $50,000 when it’s partnered with a battery system or generator. Some provincial rebates are available to buyers, and the federal government passed a 30 per cent refundable tax credit for incorporated farm businesses who convert to renewable energy.

Jeff says the system can pay for itself within five to seven years depending on utility rates in a given jurisdiction. In Ontario, for example, the NOREASTER can produce a single kilowatt hour of energy at a cost of three or four cents compared to 14 to 18 cents for the same kilowatt hour supplied by that province’s energy utility.

Another selling point of the NOREASTER, which won a National Clean Energy Award, is that it’s relatively easy to install. About 90 per cent of The Smart Energy Company’s customers install the kits themselves, though a qualified electrician is required to connect the finished product to an operation’s power supply system. Jeff says the first conversation his employees have with potential customers typically focuses on what the current energy consumption of their operation is and how much of that can be offset using the NOREASTER.

In some cases, it can be as much as 100 per cent. Once that has been established, a consultant helps the customer determine what their budget is, decide how much space they have available and how many units that space can accommodate. Jeff says it’s interesting how many of his customers are largely unaware of their energy consumption prior to installing the NOREASTER, but become keenly aware of it after using the system for a while.

“Most farmers we talk to aren’t really aware of what their electricity costs are. They just have a general sense that electricity costs are going up,” Jeff said. “But once we’re finished talking to them and educating them about how they can generate their own electricity they become hyperaware. They go from that state of unawareness to looking at the energy app on their phone every single day to see how much energy they are producing and how much they are using.”

Verger Belliveau Orchard owner Samuel Bourgeois installed five NOREASTER units on his 110-acre operation last summer and they have been operating since November. They supply between 50 and 60 per cent of the power required to operate the orchard’s cidery.

Bourgeois says his family has always advocated for the use of sustainable and innovative farm practices, so switching to an alternate source of energy was a no-brainer. After several years of investigating the choices available to him, including wind, he chose solar since it was the most affordable option and can be tailored to fit any size of operation. “It was the one that made the most sense for us,” he said.

Bourgeois says shifting to solar energy has already had an impact on his business. His energy costs have remained static despite a recent price increase instituted by his local utility. “It’s kept our [power] bills where they were at,” he said. “That’s one of the things that I kind of like about solar. It should stabilize your energy costs. With the power company, you don’t know when you’re going to have increases. This way, it’s much easier to budget for your utility costs.”

Bourgeois admits he did experience a few surprises soon after the system became operational. Perhaps the biggest one was the fact the system began producing power immediately, despite cloudy conditions at the time. “It still produces a little bit of power even though it’s quite cloudy. For me, that was a surprise, in a way. I always thought it was only going to run when there’s sun outside,” he said.

The other surprise for Bourgeois was the fact that, when it snowed, the solar panels managed to clear up by themselves and lost very little energy-producing capacity. “That was a good thing,” he said. “That’s something we were hesitant about initially. We can have some big dumps of snow here once in a while, and if we have to clean them every time, that’s another job we have to do.”

Not only has the switch to solar power helped with the orchard’s bottom line, but it’s also earned the business two thumbs up from many of its customers. The solar panels are visible as soon as clients walk into the orchard’s yard and they often generate questions and kudos.

“There might not be any [return-on-investment] directly related to that, but long-term, if the customer knows that we care about the environment and we care about the people around us, hopefully that brings them here to buy our products or gets them thinking about us at least,” he said.

Bourgeois’s advice to beverage-alcohol producers who may be contemplating a switch to solar is to do their homework and find out what kind of provincial or federal incentives are available to them to help reduce installation costs. He also recommends they shouldn’t be afraid to try something new. “I understand the farmer that’s maybe close to retirement not wanting to leap on it. But that next generation … if it’s something that fits in that farm’s perspective and there’s capacity to borrow, I would not be afraid of it,” he said.

Jeff suggests business owners look at the latest data available before jumping to any conclusions about whether or not solar power is a suitable option for their operation. He says in the past five to 10 years the “payback” for solar has changed considerably. Where it once would have taken 15 years or more for a solar system to pay for itself, that timeframe has now shrunk to four to six years, thanks to increased electrical costs and improved government rebates and incentives for alternate forms of energy production. What has Jeff excited about the future is industry and individuals alike are now talking more and more about energy consumption and how to become smarter consumers of energy.

“We need to generate our own clean energy and then we need to be smart about how we use that energy. As we gain an understanding of something, we’re better able to manage it, manage it more effectively and efficiently. It’s that sort of energy awareness that I’m most excited about,” said Jeff.

Knegt’s electric tractor was designed with horticulture, green house and livestock operations in mind. It has been available in Europe for six years and was introduced in North America courtesy of MAP Agri in September 2023. MAP Agri president Marty Philippi says the Knegt electric tractor is ideal for vineyard operations. The primary advantage it offers vineyards over conventional diesel tractors is that it produces no exhaust fumes.

“The biggest benefit, particularly for vineyards, is your grape is really your product and if you’re running down the field and not discharging diesel fumes, you’re going to end up with a much better quality of grape,” Philippi said.

The green appeal of Knegt’s electric offering could also help vineyards connect with a customer base that has become increasingly interested in how the products they consume are crafted. “A big part of the whole vineyard industry is marketing your position in sustainability,” Philippi said.

He acknowledges that the cost of the Knegt electric tractor is higher than for a diesel model. Depending on the model and options chosen, it can be about 25 per cent more than its diesel counterpart. However, he says additional expenditure can be quickly recouped through reduced fuel and maintenance costs. A high-capacity lithium battery provides all the power the tractor and any attachments used might require. It also requires far less frequent servicing and maintenance than a diesel tractor.

“You’ve taken out 90 per cent of the maintenance,” Philippi said. “Apart from changing [the] hydraulic oil and filter once a year, and making sure you’ve greased and oiled your moving equipment, all diesel and related fuel maintenance is gone. You’ve taken all of that out of the equation. Electric engines will just run for years and years without much maintenance, without much grief.”

Knegt offers three versions of its compact electric tractor: 45HP, 55HP and 65HP. Each has an optional cab enclosure with well-appointed features. Other optional accessories include an external battery, front loader, towbar and front lift. The electric motor that powers the tractor is manufactured by the Benevelli Group of Italy, which is touted as one of the leading electric motor companies in the world.

Philippi says the tractor’s primary battery can last for between three and six hours depending on the kind of work its tasked to perform. The more arduous the task, the shorter the working time of the battery. An optional, externally-attached secondary battery can be used to extend the working time of the tractor. That means an operator can get up to 10 hours of work out of the tractor before having to park and recharge it.

Apart from changing [the] hydraulic oil and filter once a year, and making sure you’ve greased and oiled your moving equipment, all diesel and related fuel maintenance is gone. You’ve taken all of that out of the equation.

Marty Philippi, MAP Agri

Philippi says the electric tractor doesn’t require any specialized infrastructure to recharge its batteries. A dedicated plug and charger are included with each model. It can be fully charged overnight on 110V power and in about six hours on 220V. In addition, it can be charged to 80 per cent in about three hours if the operator has access to three-phase power.

MAP Agri’s president acknowledges the tractor’s battery-powered system can lose power more quickly during cooler, winter weather. That’s why his company asked Knegt to include a battery preconditioner in each model destined for North America. It kicks in when the temperature reaches two degrees Celsius or lower, and helps to regulate the temperature of the battery so it stays at an optimal warmth and doesn’t lose any power needlessly.

The tractor is suited to perform a number of different tasks on a winery, according to Philippi, including trimming, landscaping, and moving barrels and harvested grapes. His company is also in discussions with a technology company about adding features such as robotic spraying, data gathering and other precision farming tech.

On its surface, Knegt’s electric tractor looks no different than its diesel counterpart. The only real difference between the two is that the company has replaced its diesel engine “guts” with an exhaust-free battery system. The electric tractor drives and performs pretty much the same as any other tractor. The only difference an experienced operator will notice is the immediate torque its electric battery provides for both the drive train and any attachments. That means revving the engine at the start is not required and it’s “nearly impossible” to stall the machine, Philippi says. “The rest is just like driving a tractor. If you were ever a kid and rode on a tractor you’ll know right away how to drive it,” he said.

To date, MAP Agri has sold half a dozen of the electric tractors to customers in Canada and the U.S. Feedback has been largely positive so far. One of the most common comments Philippi has heard from customers, including a couple of vineyards, is how quiet the machines are.

“The biggest thing is … these guys can actually hear their [other] equipment operating while they’re driving. If you’ve got a flail mower or some kind of sprayer going, with a diesel [motor], you probably won’t hear the sound of that equipment. With this, if something doesn’t sound right, you can stop and fix it right away. That actually happened on one of our demos. The farmer noticed the flail mower wasn’t working, stopped, fixed it and then kept on going. He was thrilled because it meant he could prevent a lot of errors.”

A number of people who have tried out the electric tractor have also commented on how they enjoy the fact they don’t have to lug around a can of diesel fuel with them when they are operating it. They’re also happy that they don’t have to inhale diesel fumes whenever they are working inside a barn or storage facility.

Philippi says Knegt has designed its electric tractor with simplicity in mind. That means that if a part has to be replaced, it can easily be swapped out with a North American-made replacement. Similarly, if there is an issue with its battery management system, it can be hooked directly to the factory through a dongle that attaches to a computer to diagnose the problem and fix it in a matter of minutes. It’s also compatible with most brands of attachments.

MAP Agri has signed distribution agreements with Canadian dealers in Ontario, B.C. and Alberta. It also expects to sign deals with U.S. dealers in New York and Montana, and is looking to extend its reach into California. While electric tractors are still a relatively new idea, Philippi is confident there is a market for them.

“I don’t see a wholesale transition, not yet. We’re still at the leading, bleeding edge as it were. It’s going to take demonstrations, trials and word of mouth,” he said. “I’m confident we’ll get a certain segment of the market. We won’t get it all because some people don’t want to go away from their trusted diesel engine, and that will still be an option for some operations and vineyards. The ones that are concerned about the environment, they’ll be the ones that will accept [it]. As that becomes increasingly important, that acceptance will grow.”