Dressed in a KISS vest, dark glasses and sporting two thick sideburns Mark Heise looks like a man who literally fell off a Memphis stage. The look is surely by design as Heise, president of Rebellion Brewing Company and his wife Joanne both love great beer, punk rock, country music and real BBQ.
The first thought of most drinkers discovering Rebellion for the first time is: can you really make great tasting beer from lentils? Well, it seems it can be done. Made by pulses from AGT Food and Ingredients which contribute to the rich flavours and a creamy body of the beverage, the Lentil Cream Ale has a crisp, lemony taste with a slightly earthy feel. Heise may love a sweet rhythm but it’s the groundbreaking music he and his team are making with their beer at Rebellion that has the province of Saskatchewan feeling the groove, and one way he is doing that is with his Amber and Lentil Cream Ale.
Born and raised in Regina, Heise says like most Canadians he found his passion for beer at a young age and can remember drinking his first Samuel Adams Boston Lager in 1994 when he was 17. A certified judge and beer expert Heise has been pursuing his calling since 2006, winning awards and making a name for himself in Saskatchewan’s growing craft beer industry along the way.
“I got serious about craft beer in 2004 and started home brewing in 2005. In 2006 I got the courage to enter my first home brewing contest and I took second place overall in that competition so I thought well, geez, maybe I’m not so bad as a home brewer,” said Heise, who won a trip to Chico, California and an opportunity to brew a beer at Sierra Nevada Brewing Company. “I’ve won quite a few best of shows here in Canada, Calgary, Lethbridge and out in Ontario but the two really big ones are with the National Homebrew Competition (American Homebrewers Association) in the United States. In 2009 I won a gold medal for IPA and in 2010 I won a silver medal for sour beer. I think there are only two other Canadians who have ever won medals at that competition.”
Rebellion Brewing rolled out its first beers in November 2014 and has a 20 hectolitre brewhouse which produces the equivalent of 6,000 bottles of beer. Rebellion has five year-round beers – Lentil Cream Ale and Amber Ale (tied for most popular brands), Blast Off! Blonde Ale, IPA and Oatmeal Stout. The Amber beer is a really nice red, hoppy beer and their IPA and Oatmeal Stout earn the highest feedback on rating sites.
They also make Prairie Cherry Mead which is not a beer at all but a wine made from Saskatchewan honey and sour cherries. Except for the hops that are imported from Washington, the ingredients are all local, with the honey coming from Tisdale and the cherries arriving from Lumsden. Rebellion releases 10-20 seasonal beers every year and self distribute their product across Saskatchewan to over 160 pubs, restaurants, and retail stores. They have no plans to export.
Several phenomenal selections are available at Rebellion Brewing but one that catches my attention is the Lentil Cream Ale because to be honest, I had never heard of it. One thing that the best craft breweries do is make outstanding products from local ingredients and pulses are one thing Saskatchewan does well.
According to Statistics Canada, Saskatchewan was home to the largest pulse area in the country with 1.7 million hectares in 2011. The Saskatchewan Pulse Growers report that Canadian production of the eight major pulse and special crops (pea, lentil, bean, and chickpea) increased from 1,000,000 tonnes in the early 1990s to 5.7 million tonnes in 2014. With approximately 15,000 pulse growers and 95 special crop processors in Saskatchewan, the province is perfectly situated to produce lentil beer.
Saskatchewan Pulse Growers also says over 5 million tonnes of pulses were exported from Saskatchewan in 2016, valued at $3.5 billion. The countries that import the largest volume of pulses from Saskatchewan include India, China, Turkey, Bangladesh, and the United States, with peas and lentils making up the largest export volume.
In other words Saskatchewan, lentils and beer are a marriage made in heaven.
Heise saw an opportunity to “put his marketing hat on and create a bit of a game changer that could have appeal” by using this beautiful yet underestimated ingredient to make great beer and it has worked spectacularly. Rebellion’s lentil beer has garnered local respect and international attention. Tourists and fans love the brewery tours that are available every Saturday afternoon. Rebellion also have a ‘community tap’ initiative that has allowed the brewery to donate $25,000 to local charities.
“I actually flew out to Australia last year to work with a brewery that wanted to brew lentil beer so we agreed to collaborate together. We got national media attention, a whole bunch of government officials involved, and the finished product actually has our logo on it,” says Heise, who gave a nod to Nokomis Brewery, Malty National and Black Ridge as other breweries in the province that were raising the bar.
He adds: “As far as I know, before we started, there were only a few folks out there making lentil beer. There was a small brewery in Italy, another small brewery in Portland, Oregon and of course the Australia brewery who we helped. We are the only ones who make lentil beer. Lentils are a big deal in Saskatchewan and that is one reason why we decided to go ahead with it. It was unique, no one else was doing it and Saskatchewan is such a huge producer of lentils and pulses.”
Heise has been canning his lentil beer for only three months but already they have sold between 50 and 60 thousand cans, which is pretty significant for a small brewery. People are beginning to take notice and the opportunities for Rebellion to grow appear to be endless as their tag line ‘Be a rebel, drink great beer’ catches on a with an expanding fan base.
“There was a pulse conference in Vancouver in June of last year, and (former Saskatchewan Premier) Brad Wall was talking about our lentil beer,” says Heise. “Next thing I know I received a text message from 12 businessmen from South East Asia who were at the conference and heard Mr. Wall speak. Next thing I know the conference ends and these men immediately book a flight to Regina, land at our airport, jumped in a cab and came right over to Rebellion to meet me and taste the beer. Most of them didn’t speak any English but they had a smile on their face and they wanted a second glass of beer.”
Those people aren’t the only ones asking for a second glass. Rebellion continues to make strides and test boundaries with innovative creations that are making an impact and forcing people to rethink what kind of ingredients can be used to make the food and beverages we enjoy. It’s not difficult to see why beer fans in Saskatchewan ‘can’t help falling in love’ with Rebellion.