In between the fun of brew days and brewery visits, the team continues to work hard to prepare for Monash University Open Day! This event provides an opportunity for high school students to learn more about available degrees and see what university students can do, like join Monash Brewlab! This is also a perfect opportunity to meet the Brewlab team in person!
Open Day is very exciting for the team as they will be presenting their first experimentation with Kombucha! Kombucha is a fermented tea beverage that is usually flavoured with fruits. It is a great fermented drink alternative for those that enjoy sweet and fruity flavours.
Open Day is 10am - 4pm at Clayton Campus
on August 4th, visit the team and
say HELLO!
A WRAP UP OF OUR LAST 2 WEEKS
The team had their second sensory evaluation session recently, this time educating the team on a wider variety of beer styles. In the blind tasting, everyone was asked to take some notes on the appearance, scent, and taste of each sample, and use this to determine the style. The Stout was easily guessed, and the team did a fantastic job distinguishing between the Pale Ale, Pilsner and IPA. It might be time to challenge the team with complex styles!
A few lucky members of the team had the honour of visiting Hawkers for a brewery tour and sensory panel. It was a fantastic opportunity to see how an industrial brewery operates, especially for the team's chemical engineering students! Hamish, Hawkers Head Brewer, lead a sensory panel to educate the team on how identifying different tastes can aid in evaluation of recipes and the brewing process. The support from Hawkers is greatly appreciated!
The team completed two more brews with great efficiency. The first brew was a simple Pale Ale named 'Hella Ella', initially planned to contain Ella Hops. However due to low stock, Galaxy Hops was used instead! 'Guardians of the Galaxy' may be a more appropriate name for this brew.
Next the team brewed an IPA named 'Knox Your Sox' due to heavy use of Ekuanot (Equinox) Hops. A combination of Pale Malt, Caramalt and Dark Crystal Malt was used to improve the malt profile of this brew. If you are interested in the recipe for these beers, click the links below!
Meet...Khin!
We caught up with Khin and asked her a couple of questions so that YOU can get to know her better!
Role: Graphic Designer
Studies: Bachelor of Chemical Engineering
What excites you about being part of the craft beer industry?
"I like how diverse the craft beer industry is, there doesn't seem to be one set way of doing things. There seems to be a lot of emphasis on community, experimentation and fun and I guess that's very exciting to be a part of. It's not just about manufacturing drinks for people to consume, the craft beer industry, to me anyway, is also about connecting with your audience and sharing the genuine enthusiasm for quality beer and brewing."
Why did you join Monash Brewlab?
"I joined BrewLab because I wanted a way to apply what I had learned about engineering to a real context and actually get to make something that was going to have some sort of impact - beer is nothing groundbreaking but unlike in the classroom where the work we do for our assignments don't really matter outside of class, the beer we brew as a team and the design work I do for BrewLab will actually at some point go out into the world and will have an impact on people even if it might be a very small impact."
CURRENT BREWS NEWS
A quick insight into the goings-on of our lab over the last week.
'Calibration Version 2' Pale Ale is still fermenting, and should be ready soon! 'Hella Ella' and 'Knox Your Sox' are also in the fermentation stage. Click on the 'Knox Your Sox' recipe link above to see how we are tracking the fermentation!
BEER OF THE WEEK
A showcase of BrewLab's favourite beer from the week.
Hawkers Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Stout
An absolute stand out from our recent sensory session with Hawkers Beer. "Big, dark, and beautiful" according to the brewers. A must-try stout that will blow your mind.