Hops and Props a toast to military aviation

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This article was published 22/08/2022 (1225 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Beer and vintage aircraft share an unlikely history that the Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum was happy to show off to the public for a unique fundraiser.

Suds were flowing at the museum for the inaugural Hops and Props beer-tasting event on Saturday night. About 90 people, some from as far away as Saskatoon, made the trek to the museum’s hangar to tour the facility, all the while sampling craft beers and vodkas at stations set up around the hangar.

Four Manitoba breweries were handing out samples: Brandon’s own Black Wheat Brewery, Neepawa’s Farmery Estate Brewery, and Winnipeg’s Barnhammer and Little Brown Jug breweries were all showing off some of their craft drinks and talking about their product.

All the while, museum volunteers were on hand to talk about some of the featured aircraft, their history, restoration projects and the people who served at the training facility.

For the hungry, Los Brothers was running their food truck.

The aim was to have a relaxed and fun evening for everyone who came in, said Steven Hayter, executive director of the museum. The weather co-operated as well, with calm skies and winds.

“Normally the wind is picking up all the time up here, but we got lucky,” he said. “I’m really happy with the turnout and how everything went.”

The museum had released 150 tickets, and sold 90, which Hayter said he was happy with and understood it’s a busy time for people. They also originally planned for seven breweries, but three had to pull out because of scheduling issues. If they do have another Hops and Props, the museum is going to have to think about how busy the summer months are for breweries.

But summer is still an optimal time for the museum, said Hayter.

“The hangar is the most popular part of the museum and we want to host events in here, but summer is the only time because it’s warm,” he said. “If we do this again — and we want to — we are going to have to talk to the breweries around Manitoba about what’s a good time between June to September.”

Interest in the nature of the event sparked some nostalgia among Canadian veterans. Hayter said he received a link from a Royal Canadian Legion sergeant-at-arms in Port Coquitlam, B.C., about beer runs conducted shortly after D-Day. As Nazi forces were retreating, they poisoned the water supplies of towns and villages. Soldiers were being left with little reliable drinking supplies, beyond weak cider.

Beer is also a morale booster, he said, so it was imperative the soldiers received their drinks. The Royal Canadian Air Force in Spitfire and Typhoon planes delivered beer to allied forces in modified “drop tanks,” special fuel tanks anchored to the bellies of the plane to provide more fuel for longer flights. Even before then, some pilots in the United States Air Force and Royal Air Force were flying clandestine beer supplies into northern France in what became known as “flying pubs.”

While humorous, Hayter said beer played an important role in keeping the pilots and the rest of the military relaxed.

“Pilots were doing a very stressful job, and I’m sure they needed a beer or two after a long run of training or flying missions,” he said.

Even with a shortened beer list, people were still lining up to sample. To make it more interesting, Farmery Estate Brewery brought some of their lightly flavoured vodkas, Caesar-flavoured beers, as well as their Pink Lemonade beer and Iced Tea beer.

Farmery south Manitoba sales representative Amanda Blanchette said they knew everyone else was bringing beers, so they wanted to try something a little different.

“We thought about having some of our more refreshing selections, as well as lighter because it’s summer and people tend to like lighter drinks,” she said.

She added this is more of a social gathering, so people are going to be sampling smaller amounts.

Black Wheat Brewery had four selections and promoted their Props and Hops limited edition beer. Only 500 cans have been made, said co-owner Ted Birch, and can only be bought in the 10th Avenue brewery store. However, $1 from every can sold will be donated to the museum.

Over at the table run by Barnhammer — which is owned by Ted’s son, Tyler Birch — Emily Holland and Genevieve Maltais were sharing samples. A friend of theirs recommended the event, Holland said, and since neither had been to the museum, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to come out.

“This seemed like a great opportunity to come see the museum and support local breweries,” Holland said.

A beer tasting like this is also a great way to sample some beers without having to commit to an entire can or bottle, Matais said.

“Every time you go to the Liquor Mart, there’s more and more Manitoba beer. The shelf just keeps increasing and we will never try all of them,” she said. “It’s awesome to be able to try a few like this.”

Holland said it was exciting to be in the museum and original hangar and see the history of the Training Plan in person, since it’s part of Brandon’s history. She was planning on bringing her kids back to enjoy the museum.

More on the history of Second World War beer runs can be found at bit.ly/3PDGNks

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