Mad Driver

The Begining of the Craft Beer Non-Alcoholic Revolution! Where does one begin? I can say this much. That if someone had told me 6 years ago, while I was still living in the United States, that I would be making non-alcoholic beer in Poland and would have developed a background in yeast microbiology, I would have said, "Whatever you’re smoking must be really good! Pass that sh*t over here!!!"
It all started about 3 years ago, when a student project called "Project BioWar" was begun in the University of Silesia Department of Biology and Environmental Protection, in Katowice, Poland. At the beginning of each semester the University funds and supports student activities in order to initiate new projects and to give students opportunities that inspire organization, curiosity in the natural world, teamwork, and leadership. When the team at BioWar met for the first time to discuss proposals to the University for funding, several ideas came to life. As some of our students are home brewers and craft beer enthusiasts, some of those ideas led to the University’s funding of students for making beer. The idea of an educational institution funding student-produced alcohol was probably not going to fly, so we had to start thinking more scientifically.
That’s when the idea of doing something with yeast came into play. We knew that yeast was something studied time and again, so, what new approach to yeast could we offer to the University for funding support? As a new hot topic of great interest, the following question was posed: could we identify strains of wild yeast isolated from their natural environments, and characterize them so as to identify any new and interesting traits not already available among the yeast strains on the market. Thanks to the funding, and working with a local brewery, we were able to identify a yeast strain, which, in the end, turned out to be the first one created for a University beer in Poland. That was 3 years ago. Today we still use that same strain in our beers at Mad Driver, but, since then, we have also identified other yeast strains that are advantageous to the production of non-and low-alcoholic beers.
During the summer of 2017 Henry met with Remik (The Mad Drivers) at Remik’s multi-tap establishment and had a discussion about an idea that was developing in Remik’s head. Remik wanted to see if we could do something about the quality of non-alcoholic beer, since most of the NA beer on the market, to be frank, sucked. That’s when we set out in our pursuit and began to test all of the yeast strains collected for the past 2 years at the University in my work conducting research in the Microbiology department. The end result was a variety of different recipes for making the world’s first non-alcoholic Vermont IPA.
I’m Henry, a student in the University of Silesia Microbiology department engaged in various yeast research projects, working with students and doctors to develop innovative ways for advancing our knowledge in yeast microbiology and to use the results to help us make the best non-alcoholic beer in the world. I’m also a home brewer and a member of Poland’s Home Brewers Association (PSPD).
Remik is a home brewer, a member of Poland’s Home Brewers Association (PSPD), a beer sommelier, and a certified beer judge for PSPD since 2013. He has been connected with the beer industry since 2011, when he founded a specialist beer store, the first in Katowice and one of the first online stores for beer in Poland. In 2015 he started "Absurdalna", one of Katowice’s first craft beer pubs.
So, what does all of this mean for Mad Driver and its customers? We at Mad Driver are focused on providing the best in non-and low-alcoholic beers to the consumer market thanks to our years of experience, our borderline insane infatuation with wild yeast, and our passion for craft beer. Our goal is to give the world a variety of flavors from which to choose. Since we all have different taste buds we should be able to have the option to choose a non-alcoholic beer that suits us, not because we have to, but because that’s what we want!
So, next time you’re the designated driver, being the “Mad Driver” is not so bad in the end, because you no longer have to restrict yourself to simply a juice or water. Join your friends and have fun!