Students from Southwestern College’s Fermentation Science Program have collaborated with NOVO Brazil Brewing Company to create Imperial Beach First Anniversary Winter Warmer Beer, which will be released Saturday, December 9 at the brewery’s Imperial Beach brewpub anniversary celebration.
This beer marks the third time Southwestern students have brewed outside of the classroom and in a professional brewery. A group of Southwestern students first visited NOVO in January 2023 to create Tzunúm, an Australian Pale Ale. A different group then brewed Fuerte, a Double IPA, in June.
The IB First Anniversary Winter Warmer Beer has a deep brown color, tan head, malty flavor, and an 8.3% alcohol by volume (ABV). It was brewed with Cascade hops, and it has a medium body and a pleasant warmer aftertaste. The Winter Warmer style of beer is typically brewed in the fall and winter months, while having a higher-than-average ABV.
“It’s a great honor for us to be part of the Southwestern College brewing program and to host the students for a brew day at NOVO,” said Brewmaster Guilherme Hoffman. “It has been a really fun activity; the students love it. They came to our Imperial Beach location, where we went over the brewing process and developed a special recipe.”
The participating students were Ricardo Gomez, Nathaniel Kunce, Ashley Perkins, Talon Treviño, Elliotth Vasquez, and Alejandro Wade. Southwestern College’s fermentation science program started in Spring 2018 with a lecture class, and the first brewing lab was held in Fall 2019 with a small, five-gallon system.
“The partnership between Southwestern College and Novo Brazil over the past few years has been an amazing opportunity for us and our students to brew with and learn from NOVO’s master brewer,” said Dr. Bill Greenleaf, an Instructor in the School of Mathematics, Science & Engineering at Southwestern. “Our students have gotten an experience that is both unique and has made learning about brewing in the classroom more relevant and real. We are so thrilled to have NOVO and Guilherme support our students with time, resources, and knowledge. We are also excited to try the Winter Warmer our students and Guilherme chose to brew.”
The anniversary celebration on Saturday begins at 10:00 a.m. with a yoga class from Yoga Lab. The day will feature live music from Evidence Band and The Part-Timers Band, several local vendors, crafting activities from Toucan Play, and a bouncy castle for the kids.
NOVO Imperial Beach opened in November 2022 at the south end of San Diego Bay with views of the Coronado Bridge and downtown skyline in the distance. The brewpub features 64 taps, serving all NOVO beers and its other lines of beverages: NOVA easy kombuchas (hard and non-alcoholic), California Spritz beer cocktails, and hard seltzers.
NOVO is located at 535 Florence Street, just one mile off the I-5 freeway and less than 20 minutes from Downtown San Diego.
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