Hops Connect Cup Champions – Where Are They Now? – Natasha Peiskar
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: Natasha Peiskar
University Home Brew Club: S.F. Brew
Year of winning Hops Connect Cup: Year 1, 2013
Name of winning beer: Hoparella IPA
Style of winning beer: IPA
How did you get into home brewing?
I got in to home brewing as a result of the creation of the Hops Connect Cup. Prior to that I had no experience brewing, so it was a quick and steep learning curve ahead of the competition. The home brewing community in Vancouver was incredibly welcoming and helpful, specifically Graham With and Tak Guenette. I have them to thank completely for showing us the ropes.
Tell us about the beer that you won the Hops Connect Cup with.
Hoparella IPA was the first recipe myself and brew partner, Jill, had ever attempted. It was a simple, stove-top extraction kit brew with Amarillo, Simcoe and Motueka hops. I remember us first trying it before bottling and thinking ‘holy crap we did it, we made drinkable beer’.
What are you doing today?
I am currently the Brand Manager and Beer Buyer for National Beerhall in Calgary, Alberta. We have four restaurants in the city with almost 300 combined taps of North American craft beer. I am also the President and co-founder of the CAMRA Alberta chapter and organizer of the annual Women’s Brew Day/Big Boots Brew which supports a bursary for women attending the Olds College Brewmaster and Brewery Operations Program.
Do you still home brew?
If so, tell us about your beers. Yes, I still home brew. Mostly extraction kits or kit hacks due to the constraints of our apartment, but we just moved to a place with a great deck so I plan on stepping up to all-grain more regularly. My favourite style to brew is anything with Belgian yeast because I love those styles and it’s a forgiving yeast to work with.
What is your favourite craft beer?
The all-important question! Usually, the next one in my hand, but if I had to choose one beer it would be Dieu du Ciel Rosée D’Hibiscus.
If you could have any job in the craft brewing industry what would it be?
I think I have a pretty fantastic job right now that allows me to shape to direction of the brand and impact the local craft beer scene!
Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
I would consider myself lucky to still be involved in the same industry in 10 years! I’m a big believer in educating yourself and so I hope to continue successfully challenging the levels of Cicerone(R) and paying it forward along the way.
Read More about Natasha’s winning recipe