Hops Connect Cup Champions – Where Are They Now? – Kerry Dyson
Hops Connect is a distributor of hops for breweries and home brewers in BC and across Canada. Every year they host a competition among university brew clubs to see which brews the best beer. Each year a brew club takes home the cup and a single brewer comes out on top with “Best In Show” and has their beer brewed at a BC Craft Brewery at scale. Now, several years into the competitions, we thought we would catch up to see where all the winners are today.
Name: Kerry Dyson
University Home Brew Club: UBC Brewing Club – BrUBC
Year of winning Hops Connect Cup: 2014
- How did you get into home brewing?
I first got started brewing mead actually. My parents kept bees, and with the honey I brewed a few meads before I moved out. Around the same time I had my first cask ale, a watermelon wheat by R&B Brewing. Finding out that it was both way cheaper to brew beer than mead, and that it didn’t have to be a tasteless macro beer, I was hooked.
- What are you doing today?
Today I am the lead brewer at Bridge Brewing Company in North Vancouver. I am currently in charge of all recipe design, cellarwork, quality control, production planning as well as representing Bridge at events and festivals around the city. It is all early mornings and long days, but an amazing industry that is always exciting.
- Do you still home brew? If so, tell us about your beers.
Somewhat still home brewing, but now it is usually on the pilot system at Bridge. Generally i’ll brew something that are a bit too complicated or cost prohibitive to brew on a production scale but still really interesting. I am a big fan of the constant improving and tweaking of recipes, as well as using new ingredients and products to see what can be produced.
- What is your favourite craft beer?
I am fairly biased here, but our Barrel Aged Belgian Red IPA is amazing if you can find a bottle of it around town, or the Rye and Ginger Amber Ale. For non-Bridge beers, Doan’s Rye Stout is a go-to of mine.
- If you could have any job in the craft brewing industry what would it be?
Probably this one. Everyday I get to brew a range of beer, work on recipe formulation, problem solve a huge array of issues and work out the best solution. Everyone you meet in the industry is so passionate about the craft, working and collaborating to build craft beer in BC.
- Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
Still brewing, though by then it might by at my own brewery, focusing on always improving and creating the best beer possible, working with other local producers to create interesting combinations, different beer styles and a huge range of beers.
Great article. Got to spend a night chatting over beers with Kerry recently. He’s a very interesting guy!
> Today I am the lead brewer at Bridge Brewing Company in North Vancouver.
You’ve got yourself a fan Kerry!