DURHAM COLLEGE
DC's Centre for Craft Beverage Innovation Expands Capabilities with Grant

Durham College (DC) is expanding the capacity of its Centre for Craft Beverage Innovation (CCBI) to provide tangible and transformative solutions to real-life beverage business challenges, thanks to a $118,000 grant.

The funding, announced by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), will bolster the Centre's research service through the purchase of a modular beer analysis system the Anton Paar Animo 3100 Mobile. This fully mobile and flexible process monitoring device will facilitate the measurement of vital input and output parameters, providing the best possible insights into brewery performance. This will lead to improved process control and potential cost and time savings for the Centre's clients.

Since 2018, CCBI has partnered with numerous craft breweries and artisanal beverage makers to foster innovation, not only for craft beer but also for seltzers, kombuchas, and other beverages. The CCBI's pilot brew line and lab equipment enable successful applied research projects, where companies can tap into our expertise, state-of-the-art technology, and micro-analytical services. This allows craft brewers to experiment with new recipes and flavour profiles, yeast strains, and conduct scientific analysis, supporting the growing beverage sector of the local economy.

"The beverage industry is changing, and so must the services that support our homegrown innovation," said Debbie McKee Demczyk, Associate Vice President, Innovation and Research. "The Applied Research Tools and Instruments (ARTI) grant is allowing DC to advance its ability to support beverage businesses with innovative services that grow the economy and develop Canadian-made products, further underscoring the Centre for Craft Beverage Innovation as one of Ontario's key beverage research hubs."

This ARTI grant will help build CCBI's mission of helping craft brewers brew with more confidence by bringing more science to their work. New CCBI capabilities unlocked with the purchase of the Anton Paar Animo 3100 Mobile will significantly enhance the ability of small craft breweries to experiment and refine process controls, resulting in improved quality, reduced costs, increased sales, and enhanced financial performance.