KPU brewing students debut signature beers from capstone projects

Students from Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s brewing and brewery operations program launched signature beers as part of the 2026 KPU Brewing Signature Series.

Second-year students worked on developing the recipe, packaging, and names for presenting their beers. The signature beer releases every Friday from Feb. 6 to March 20.

Ross Camara is one of the students who developed Red Handed, a red IPA, together with team members Gabor Tarczali and Jesse Beukers. Camara says the beer is of a style that’s not commonly found on the market and one that he and his teammates enjoy. 

“We thought it would be something that would be really fun to make … and do something different and stand out in our class,” Camara says.

Red Handed includes citrus, pine, and tropical hop notes and is similar to an IPA, Camara says. He adds that the team tried to create a name that rhymed well and included the word “red,” which they later submitted to the KPU marketing team.

“It’s a really enjoyable beer … if [bitter IPAs are] your thing or you’re looking to get into that style of beer, I think it is a really good choice for people,” Camara says.

For brewing students, it was the first time developing a beer on their own, Camara says, adding that there was some trial and error involved in figuring out the calculations for the result they wanted.

“It took us a little bit of time to figure everything out, but I think we did a pretty good job and we’re really happy with how it turned out,” he says.

Camara says it took about a week to develop the recipe, which involved making a rough draft of the beer and then going over it with his classmates. The instructors later gave feedback, which helped a lot, he adds.

“You only get two chances to make the beer in the brewing course … so [instructors] try to help you as much as they can and make sure that is going to be good,” Camara says.

He says the team is excited for the public to try the beer and get honest feedback from real consumers, not just people from the brewing program. 

“To have real world customers coming in and seeing their genuine reactions to something that you’ve worked so hard on and made is super exciting,” Camara says.

He adds the KPU Brewing Signature Series helped students learn about not only the production side of brewing, which many people expect when entering the brewing program, but also a foundational understanding of logistics, business, and marketing, among other aspects.

“[This is] not what I expected coming in, but it really made me happy that they touched on everything during all the courses.”

The Red Handed beer was released on Feb. 27 at KPU Brew Lab on the Langley campus. 

Other students’ signature beers include Fruitini by Helia Xiang and Ronan Ma, which was released on March 6. The JellyFarm beer, developed by Hyunwoo Lee and Jay Ku, will debut on March 13, and Connor Thomson’s MacToff will be circulated beginning March 20. 

For more information about the student beers, visit www.kpu.ca/science/brew/signature-series.