An Ottawa brewery is hoping to challenge the perception that craft beer is just for hipster bros by offering a scholarship aimed at encouraging more diversity in\u00a0the industry.<\/p>\n
Dominion City Brewing started the scholarship in conjunction with Niagara College\u00a0in Niagara Falls, Ont., to help\u00a0graduates break into craft brewing.<\/p>\n
It will be awarded annually to one student\u00a0in the college’s brewmaster\u00a0program from “a background presently underrepresented in the industry.”<\/p>\n
“Just having a perspective challenged by someone who sees the world a little differently than you,\u00a0I know we’ve benefited from that,” Josh McJannett, co-owner of Dominion City Brewing, told CBC Radio’s\u00a0All In A Day<\/em>.<\/p>\n While\u00a0McJannett<\/span>\u00a0himself might look like a typical craft brewer, he wants more diversity on his team and in the industry as a whole.<\/p>\n “If we want a strong industry a decade from now or more …\u00a0having people meaningfully involved who have new perspectives is going to be really important,”\u00a0McJannett<\/span>\u00a0said.<\/p>\n Niagara College offers a two-year\u00a0brewmaster<\/span>\u00a0and brewery operations management program, which includes courses on everything from the “history of brewing and beer”\u00a0to “filtration, carbonation and finishing.”<\/p>\n The school is the only one in the province to offer a certified craft brewing diploma.<\/p>\n The scholarship targets senior students, giving them a place to perfect their brewing skills after graduation.<\/p>\n In addition to being passionate about craft beer, the winner has to show how receiving the scholarship will help contribute to the diversity of the brewing industry, said\u00a0McJannett<\/span>.<\/p>\n The point of the scholarship isn’t\u00a0just about getting more women into the industry, but also folks from different ethnic backgrounds, people with disabilities, and members of the\u00a0LGBT <\/span>community, said\u00a0Ren<\/span>Navarro<\/span>, the creator of Beer Diversity.<\/p>\n The advocacy group works to improve diversity in the craft brewing industry.\u00a0Navarro<\/span>\u00a0gave a talk about the issue to Dominion City Brewing last week.<\/p>\n “You can’t get a job\u00a0till<\/span>\u00a0you have the experience, and you can’t get the experience\u00a0till<\/span>\u00a0you have a job,”\u00a0Navarro<\/span>\u00a0told\u00a0CBC<\/span>\u00a0Radio’s\u00a0All In A Day.<\/em><\/p>\n She said the industry remains dominated by men, and it can difficult for women who brew beer to get noticed \u2014 an ironic reality, given the industry’s origins.<\/p>\n “When you think of craft beer, you have someone in mind, and it’s not a female,” she said<\/p>\n “Back in ye\u00a0olde<\/span> Mesopotamian times the original brewers were women. So why are we suddenly forgotten thousands of years later?”<\/p>\nOntario’s only certified program<\/h2>\n
Brewers were women<\/h2>\n