Upstreet Craft Brewing started as most beer companies do- sitting around, drinking home brew with a few buds and saying things like ‘We could start our own brewery!’ Fast forward a few years and there it was.
This journey really began in 2006 when Hogie, our brewmaster, brewed his very first beer. He became obsessed with testing batches and experimenting in kitchens, basements, backyards and barns. Some great tasting brews, some interesting and some just downright silly. With all of this homebrew experience under his belt, Upstreet would go on to become the first B-Corp certified company on PEI after opening our doors in 2015.
And that’s what makes Libra different. That’s what makes Libra stand out among the rest. We know what it takes to make a great tasting craft beer using premium ingredients. That’s what has always been important to us- having a great authentic taste.
“I think what makes Libra different is from other non-alcoholic beers is we have ridiculously high standards for how they need to be and how they’re made. So, they need to be fully fermented and they need to use the best possible malt and hops we can get our hands on.”- Hogie
So, how is Libra made? Libra is made following the same process that brewers have been using for centuries. We steep malted grains to extract sugar, boil wort, add hops, then cool it down and pitch yeast. Then we let it ferment and condition. The fermentation creates a tiny amount of alcohol while also smoothing out the overall flavour.
What’s special about non-alcoholic beers is that a lot happens on the fringe, or even out of bounds from conventional brewing. Some things they even tell you not to do. Every step of the brewing process needs to be broken down, modified, and then put back together in just the right way.
“It’s extremely challenging to balance out the flavours with non-alcoholic beers. Everything has a really narrow threshold. Too little flavour, too bitter, too hoppy, too sweet… These can all throw it out of whack. But after a lot of hard work, research, and trial and error, we figured it out though. We aren’t the first to do it and we won’t be the last, but I still think it’s really special what we’ve achieved here.
At the end of the day, perfecting the process and continuously learning new ways to produce delicious products is what keeps us going. We love beer. And you can taste it when you crack open a Libra. Because we were brewers, first!
“Libra is different because we were brewers first. Through that journey of opening up a brewery, we realized that we needed to have more balance in our lives. And that’s really what inspired us to create Libra”- Mitch, CEO
