Tel-Hai Magazine 2022

Student Entrepreneurs

Downing a pint or two of chilled beer on a hot day is something many of us love, but, for the gluten-sensitive in Israel, this plea sure is not on the menu. Invariably, while their friends enjoy a good brew, gluten-sen sitive customers search the menu for a substitute they can make do

ten-packed wheat or barley since the time of the ancient Egyptians. In their search for new raw materials, they looked at the su perfood sweeping health food stores these days: quinoa. After a comprehensive literature

survey and feasibility study, they learned how to make beer, how to extract malt from quinoa and, through painstaking trial and er ror, worked on adapting processes and modifying formulas to improve taste. However, perfecting the taste proved to be a serious challenge and they hoped to have their formula

with – and, on the rare occa sions that gluten-free beer is a` la carte, it is so ex pensive that it is a non-starter. For Tel-Hai graduate, Keren Bleier, 31, whose cousin is sensi tive to gluten, this situa tion was a call to action. After working as a profession al pastry

Yadid Rubin and Laila Schwartz

On the menu: quinoa-based beer Downing a pint or two of chilled beer on a hot day is something many of us love, but, for the gluten-sensitive in Israel, this plea sure is not on the menu

chef, Keren wanted to take her in terest in food to a new lev el: to study the raw ma terials and the ingredi ents she used in her profes sion, learn about their production, their compo sition, and

ready in time for the Food Innovation Conference, a high-profile conference, held at Tel Hai and at tended by representa tives from Is rael’s leading food compa nies. The

their properties. To this end, she moved to Kiryat Shmona and began studies in the Department of Food Science at Tel-Hai. Over the past decade, Tel-Hai has become the food-tech capital of Israel. In this spirit, the cutting-edge Department of Food Sci ence runs a variety of special workshops and classes where students are encouraged to think outside the box, and there is also a mandatory Product Development Work shop to help transform their ideas into via ble new products. At this workshop, stu dents learn what happens behind the scenes in the food industry and deepen their un derstanding of the raw materials. The workshop provides practical and theoretical guidance while allowing students creative freedom. During their participation in this workshop, Keren, and her research-partner, Yarden Yanovski began to look for gluten-free raw materials from which to brew beer. Beer has traditionally been produced from glu

pressure grew, as two weeks before the con ference, they still lacked a formula that pro duced tasty beer. But they did not give up, and with the assistance of one of their su pervisors, they made one last attempt. The supervisor connected them with the owner of a whiskey start-up, who also had experience in brewing beer. With his expert advice, Keren and Yarden fine-tuned their recipe and managed to produce a delicious beer- just in time. Keren and Yarden presented their beer at the conference, where it was extremely well-received, and gained widespread inter est from professionals and beer enthusiasts alike. Keren is continuing to develop the initiative and is currently in contact with various business entities concerning op tions for development and collaboration. We are looking forward to seeing this prod uct on the shelves at retailers and are glad to have helped incubate this initiative.

Anton Biderman

el’s top artists, with whom she collab orated over a period of fifty years. Laila’s donation to the college was made in honor of the Slater Family, for whom she worked during the early years of her career, and who, over the years, became a family to her. Tel-Hai College, and the Institute of Art at Tel-Hai, are very grateful for this do nation. We are delighted to be the new home of this collection. Acknowledgements: Gershon Schneider - Legal advice, Hannah Hazan, Honi Hameagel, Atarah Ben-Porat.

Tel-Hai Magazaine | 2022 31