LCBO Food & Drink Autumn 2019

INSIDE SCOOP

So you want to be a brewer? There’s making beer at home from a kit, and there’s commercial-quality beer that others clamour to taste. Here’s how to get the edge in making (or just tasting) the best.

Beyond bartending, spirits aficionados have new opportunities to learn how to make, serve and appreciate their favourite drinks. Distilled wisdom Niagara College started Canada’s first artisan distilling graduate certificate program and teaching distillery, So you want to be a spirits expert? Behind the bottle Renowned for its wine education, the WSET offers a new spirits education curriculum available through various Ontario course providers, including Algonquin College and Brock University online. Other pro-coveted credentials include the SWE’s Certified Specialist of Spirits and Pernod-Ricard’s BarSmarts program, both with online self- study options. Mix it up Dip into Toronto Cocktail Week (October 15 to 20, 2019) seminars, or take a whisky cocktail class at Wayne Gretzky Estates Winery & Distillery. Ontario’s Smart Serve course (smartserve.ca) will have you pouring like a socially responsible pro. welcoming its first 16 students last fall.

BUDDING BREWERS Brewmasters and brewery workers get schooled at Niagara College’s teaching brewery program. Durham College’s Centre for Food offers professional courses on topics like evaluating beer’s smells and flavours throughout production, and on setting up a brewing lab. Its Centre for Craft Brewing Innovation at the Whitby campus provides production support and innovation to existing craft breweries. The Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs has sharp advice on “Starting a Craft Brewery in Ontario” and more (ontario.ca/foodbusiness).

CICERONE SMARTS If you aspire to be the beer equiv- alent of a sommelier, the Cicerone Certification Program is for you. The credential and its exam are notoriously rigorous: start with the Beer Savvy online course, and hone your skills with Ontario-based experts like the Beer Sisters, who offer BeerSavvy Bootcamps. To pair and appreciate beer like a pro, look for Prud’homme Beer Certification (named for Canada’s first licensed brewer) courses online or across Ontario.

Craft breweries Watch for beer appreciation classes at breweries including Etobicoke’s Black Oak Brewing and Nickel Brook Brewing in Burlington.

As of 2015, the Ontario craft beer industry directly employed over 1,500 people and created more than 6,000 indirect jobs.

– STARTING A CRAFT BREWERY IN ONTARIO

PHOTO BY MATT AUBIN

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AUTUMN 2019 FOOD & DRINK