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He takes his work home, tooKen Robbins is the envy of many Canadian men. By night, he coaches a boys bantam hockey team in Brampton. By day, for the past 21 years, he's the head brewmaster for Molson Canada's operations in Toronto. JACK BOLAND |
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 [ 2007-02-26 ] |
Interior of the Air Canada Centre showing the Molson brewery. Lorraine Sharma pours a cool one. (Michael Peake, Toronto Sun)
"A few years ago I was approached by a parent who requested a meeting with me after a practice," said Robbins, who jumped to a conclusion he'd done something wrong.
"It turns out he was just trying to confirm a rumour he'd heard in the stands amongst the other parents I was the brewmaster for Molson," Robbins said. "So that was an quite an honour for me to be recognized that way.
ATTENDED BONSPIEL
"It was really the first time that I realized that ... beer, hockey and the true Canadian good times go together very well."
And as intrinsically as frosty cold beverages and sports go hand-in-hand, that natural pairing is how Robbins figuratively stumbled into the brewers vat.
While working on his bachelor's of science at Queen's University, Robbins attended a curling bonspiel. After the game, he shared a few "barley pops" with the former brewing manager for Carling Breweries.
"I was then offered a summer job (to work at Carling) and here I am today," Robbins said.
Last week, Robbins and four other regional brewmasters -- Kerry Scarsbrook of Vancouver, Steve Stradiotto of Edmonton, Tim Crease of Montreal, and outgoing brewmaster Bob Reddy of St. John's, Nfld. -- got together to talk shop and initiate Reddy's replacement, Keith Armstrong.
The secrets of how the golden elixirs have been brewed for the past 221 years are shared only behind closed doors.
"Not a lot of secrets get shared," Robbins said. "We share some stories which are quite humorous. We get together routinely and talk about technical and raw material advances.
"But generally we just talk about beer. Which is a great subject -- and always fun to talk about."
But to go from bellying up to the bar to raising the bar of quality for all those to enjoy isn't as easy as taking Beerology 101, Robbins said.
"I actually went through an apprenticeship program with the Carling O'Keefe brewing company 21 years ago," Robbins said, adding students entering the science of suds now do a four-year apprenticeship at a brewery, performing all the jobs and functions in a brewing department, before writing exams set by the Institute of Brewing and Distilling in the U.K.
Two years ago Molson, Canada's oldest brewery, merged with the U.S.-based Adolph Coors Co., making it the fifth largest brewer in the world.
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