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Jersey interest surges with demand for butterfat » PG 15
Don’t miss it! July 18-20, 2017 www.aginmotion.ca
SERVING MANITOBA FARMERS SINCE 1925 | Vol. 75, No. 21 | $1.75
May 25, 2017
Flying hook nearly hits farmer Wawanesa farmer warns others not to use a tow rope with hook to extract a stuck vehicle BY LORRAINE STEVENSON Co-operator staff
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Wawanesa farmer was left shaken earlier this month after bolts on a truck he was trying to tow broke, sending a tow rope and metal hook hurtling at him at bullet speed. The tow rope snapped like a slingshot and the impact of the hook on the end of it shattered the tractor’s fibreglass fender. Pieces of broken hook off the truck were later found about 200 metres away. Only the angle he’d parked the tractor at kept it from smashing through the cab where he was seated, said Simon Ellis, who captured the whole thing on video. “The tow rope came flying at the tractor,” he said. “I didn’t have a second to move. It was all over and then I realized what had happened. There was no time to duck or move. If it happens you can’t get out of the way.” The incident occurred after one of their trucks loaded with fertilizer got stuck in their field May 9. They lightened the load before preparing to pull it out,
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Distilling the true spirits of Manitoba Jason Kang of Capital K Distillery has shifted his brewing hobby into a full-fledged business, using only Manitoba-grown grain BY ALEXIS STOCKFORD Co-operator staff
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i n n i p e g g e r Ja s o n Kang has taken many jobs since his family immigrated from China in 2003. He has worked in manufacturing and garbage disposal. He has been a dishwasher, a pizza delivery man and a commercial driver. But now he has a different profession behind his name, one that he hopes to make permanent — master distiller. Kang, the man behind Capital K Distillery, the province’s first family-owned grainto-bottle producer of spirits, has unveiled two products under his Tall Grass label and has plans to release more throughout 2017. “Basically, from the grain itself we process everything right in this location until we have a finished product in the bottle,” Kang said from his Dublin Avenue storefront. The story of Capital K actually begins with wine, not spirits. Tired of paying a premium for quality alcohol, Kang decided that he would try making his own. His first efforts with homemade wine were successful, but took too long in Kang’s estimation. Looking for quicker turnaround, his hobby soon turned to beer. For the next several years, Kang produced consistent batches of brew which he would often share among his friends. One of those friends suggested he branch out into distilling. “My fr iend said, ‘ Well, your beer is so strong,’ Kang recalled, noting that it was not unusual for his batches to have upwards of 12 per cent alcohol. “It’s still tasty, but it’s a lit-
Manitoba-grown grains are the starting point of all products produced at Capital K Distillery in Winnipeg. Above, Jason Kang takes a double handful of Brandon wheat. Photo: Alexis Stockford
tle too much for beer, so they were saying, ‘Why don’t you just make the hard alcohol itself?’ So that’s where I started looking into it,” Kang said.
Start by learning online What followed was at least five years of research, self-education and on-the-job training.
He learned there was a multiyear degree program for spirits in Scotland, but that was impractical for someone juggling work with his new-found interest. Instead, Kang travelled to Seattle for a workshop covering the business aspects of running a distillery. “I started reading every-
thing I could find online, either articles or finding different books or watching different videos on YouTube, so basically just getting the information by pieces… from all over the place and then eventually, once you get enough pieces, See DISTILLING on page 6 »
Education tax changes finally on the table? » PAGE 8