All posts by Onur Caka

The 2026 Spice Beer Draft & Competition!

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Are you ready to spice up your brewing game? Our next big club challenge is here, and it’s time to see who can master the art of the spice. Whether you are a seasoned pro or looking to try something new, this is your chance to showcase your creativity.

The Ultimate Prize

The stakes are high this year! The 1st Place winner will earn an incredible opportunity to collaborate on a brew with Andrew McCready at Bickford Brewing. Imagine seeing your recipe scaled up on a professional system!

How the Draft Works

This is a “Draft Style” competition. We will be drafting specific spices and beer styles to ensure a wide variety of unique entries.

  • When: Join us at the upcoming monthly meeting next Monday, March 9th at Rorschach Brewing Co.
  • The Deadline: Online sign-ups are open now, but you can also sign up in person at the meeting until 8:15 PM.
  • The Draft: At 8:15 PM sharp, we will randomly assign the draft order.
  • Can’t make it in person? No problem. You can join us virtually via Zoom (link also below) to participate in the draft. If you miss the draft entirely, you can still enter! Just check the “Draft Board” tab in the sign-up sheet after the meeting to select from the remaining spice and style combinations.

How to Sign-up?

Judging Dates and Info

📍 Location: Rorschach Brewing Co.
📅 Date: Monday, June 8, 2026
🕖 Time: Monthly Meeting Schedule | 7:00 PM – 10:00 PM ET

We’re looking forward to our Spice Beer Competition at Rorschach Brewing Co. on Monday, June 8. Competition judging will take place during our regular club meeting agenda. Please plan to bring 2 beers for judging, with any additional beers welcome to share afterward.

We’re also calling on any BJCP judges who are not participating in the club competition and would be willing to volunteer that evening. The goal is to keep the judging moving efficiently with 4 pairs/flights and a mini-BOS format to keep things snappy.

Cheers,

The GTA Brews Team

New Guest Tap Release at Bickford Brewing: “Saison!” by Kym Watts – Launching August 29th

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Location: Bickford Brewing Co.
Date: Friday, August 29th, 2025
Time: 12:00 PM EDT onwards

We’re thrilled to announce the latest release on the GTA Brews Guest Tap at Bickford Brewing Co.: “Saison!” by Kym Watts, launching Friday, August 29th.

Don’t let the simple name fool you, this beer is anything but basic. Saison is a complex and challenging style to brew, and Kym and Andrew seem to have truly nailed it. Expect a dry and peppery profile, balanced with medium to medium-low bitterness and bright citrusy notes of orange peel and lemon, all thanks to Ontario-grown Triple Perle hops.

Join us Friday night to meet the brewers, Kym Watts and Andrew McCready, and chat about all things brewing; especially Saison!

If you know Kym, you know his passion for this style. He’s been refining his Saison recipe year after year, always striving to stay true to style while elevating the experience.

But you probably also know Kym loves his Brett or Saccharomyces cerevisiae var. diastaticus, a type of diastatic yeast that breaks down longer-chained carbohydrates. Those two, once in the brewhouse, always in the brewhouse. Andrew, knowing this, challenged Kym to design a Saison without using Brett or diastatic yeast. The result? You have to make your way to Bickford Brewing Co. and taste!

About the Guest Tap Program

Thanks to the generosity of Bickford Brewing Co., GTA Brews has a dedicated guest tap to showcase beers brewed by members of our local homebrew community.

The program is managed by Andrew McCready, owner and head brewer at Bickford Brewing Co. Here’s a look at the delicious beers that have flowed from the guest tap so far:

  • Chang-Sang Estates – Red: An IPA(IPA)
  • Josh Davis – Cumulus Lupulus (IPA)
  • Wuilmer Venegas – Steampunk Amber (California Common)
  • *To be released on August 29th* Kym Watts – Saison! (Saison)

Stay tuned for more exciting releases from Bickford and our members!

Member Profile: Kym Watts

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Kym Watts

What is your occupation (outside homebrewing)?

My day job is a Senior Pipeline Technical director. Outside of the animation and VFX industry this is a mix of a solutions architect or automation software engineer.

What got you into homebrewing?

My grand father was brewing from coopers tins in the late 90’s, I helped with a couple of batches, i was too young to enjoy beer, so I was just a helper. Brewed some more coopers tins with some roommates in our laundry room. 

Ended up having to move to Canada for work, after a couple of years of moving cities, found good work in Toronto, ended out moving down the road from a fairly prolific brewer who got me more into brewing. Started with partial extract and moved to all grain. So really got my feet drenched in 2010 and been at it since.

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Member Profile: Wuilmer Venegas

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Wuilmer Venegas

What is your occupation (outside homebrewing)?

I am a computer engineer working as an SAP Business One functional consultant. My job involves the implementation of software throughout all stages of the project. In summary, it’s a mix of consulting, software design, and support.

What got you into homebrewing?

I always had a curiosity about brewing beer but didn’t have the drive to do it. Then, during the early months of the pandemic with all the confinement and loss of a family member, I needed a distraction and a new hobby. My wife gave me an online tasting and a beer-making event. Unfortunately, the event was canceled, so I thought, “I have plenty of time, why not buy the supplies and give it a try?” I started watching YouTube videos to understand the materials needed, realized there were various methods, and chose the one I considered the simplest – using extract. After enjoying the process with extract, I wanted to try the full process, so I bought a basic all-grain kit.

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Member Profile: Dan Mills

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 Dan Mills

What is your occupation (outside homebrewing)?

I have a degree in survey engineering and specializes in forensic measurements….long winded and technical way of saying that I take accurate measurements from photos and videos for use in legal cases.

What got you into homebrewing?

I have always loved procedural, technical and process driven things…(see occupation 😊 ). The process of making beer falls squarely into that. I had thoughts of opening a brewery, as many of us have had, and decided working on some recipes that the first step. I have given up the dream of a brewery for the time being but still am working on brewing and recipes.

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Member Profile: Cory Fletcher

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Cory Fletcher

What is your occupation (outside homebrewing)?

Mechanical Engineer for various types of large buildings. Think mechanical design of HVAC, plumbing, storm, sanitary, gas, fire protection systems, etc.

What got you into homebrewing?

I stumbled upon a ‘howtobrew’ website one day in 2018 and couldn’t stop reading. Shortly after, I attended an in-person how-to-brew session at Toronto Brewing, and a love for the hobby was born.

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Member Profile: Shane Schlesinger

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Shane Schlesinger

What is your occupation (outside homebrewing)?

I’m a high school science teacher with a background in Biology.

What got you into homebrewing?

Gigging in bands over the years at beer festivals and gastropubs introduced me to the more mainstream craft breweries, as well as a variety of European styles. I actually played in a band with Zack Weinberg many years ago around the time he was just starting up Toronto Brewing – he used to bring homebrew to rehearsals, which put the idea of brewing one day in the back of my mind. Years later when my wife and I started dating, she introduced me to a lot of great local craft beer and got me hooked. Not long after, she bought me a one-gallon Brooklyn Brewshop homebrew kit as a Chrismukkah gift. I brewed a couple of batches, loved the process, and I have been brewing ever since.

Continue reading Member Profile: Shane Schlesinger →