Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Professor of Pouring

Craft breweries provide about 100,000 jobs across the United States.  Not just any ol' Beercan Bobby applies and is hired though.  Craft implies a certain degree of art or finesse.  And in order to hone your craft, you must be trained or mentored along the way.  Believe it or not, those programs exist throughout North America and Europe.  Learning the differences in hops and malts (and WAY more), students then facilitate the transformation of ingredients into a fine, pouring libation.  

Below you will find a few links to a sampling of North American university programs and their department descriptions.  I guarantee all of these professors have the best rankings and hot tamales on RateMyProfessor.

Central Washington University - Craft Beer Trade Certification Program

Colorado State University - Beverage Business Institute OR Zymurgy Institute

Oregon State University - Fermentation Science

University of California, Davis - Extension Program

Other organizations offer extensive seminar-based classes that result in an institutionally sponsored certificate, expertise in an area of craft brewing, or simply a greater breadth of knowledge.  


Master Brewers Association of the Americas - Beer Steward Certificate Program

Beer, Beer, and More Beer - Beer Judge Certification Program

Unfortunately for me, many of these programs not located in the greater Philadelphia area, but I am determined to pursue one of these or many of the online programs that exist.  Upon completion, be sure to be on the look out for an update and I will try my best to avoid using snooty jargon.  Let's raise a glass to beer literacy.  Slainte!

(Image provided by blogs.citypages.com)

1 comment:

  1. The final taste of beer starts with the chemistry of the water. In fact, the official beer styles from different regions in Germany were determined by the water quality of those regions. That's all I remember from my brewing class. :) But, the BJCP also produces the Beer Style Guide, which I always found very interesting: http://www.bjcp.org/stylecenter.php

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