Teaching Homebrewing

Out of complete boredom today, I ran across my local community college website and browsed the Community Education section to see what kind of offerings. THey list a lot of adult non-credit classes such as Beekeeping and model railroading, but no homebrewing.

So on a whim, I emailed the director of community education and proposed a homebrewing program.

I'm crossing my fingers and hoping they respond with a request for more info and we can engage in a good professional dialogue on the hobby and maybe get the word out to potential homebrewers.

I'll update when/if they respond.

In the meantime, how would YOU do it? Would you use "How to Brew" or "The New Complete Joy of Homebrewing, 3rd Edition" as your class reference book?

I've been writing up sort of my own 'Homebrewing 101' just for kicks, who knows maybe it'll come in handy.

I've thought about it as well. ALl of my old brewing friends (who taught me to brew) are constantly calling and asking me questions. Makes me feel like I could teach the basics pretty well. I stick with your own 101 and how to brew as homework "reading material" for the class.

IIRC Bobby_M had a few threads about doing the same thing....and the lack of interest that resulted.

sounds like fun if you could get people to come

I can see where basket weaving 101 is probably still in demand on campuses.

if the class goes well and last's over 6 or 7 weeks that final class could be one heck of a blow out / beer swap

would you try to brew a batch start to finish in one class?

UC Davis actually has a brew class and gives credits for it!! Maybe I need to go back to school?!

http://foodscience.ucdavis.edu/undergrad/courses/fst-3

My plan would be (for an intro level class) about 5 sessions.

Session 1: Intro to brewing. Looking at equipment, beer basics, and SANITIZATION!!!! If alcohol is allowed in the classroom, some sampling of homebrew.

Session 2: Brew a batch. I'd suggest 2 brewers to a pot, maximum of 3-5 pots. I would have someone with me to assist other brewers as I mingled and assisted as needed while training during the lengthy wait periods in the boil. Sampling of homebrew (see above).

Session 3: More beer basics. Fermentation still happening, but this is a pure teaching session. This would be where I bring up the visual/taste jars so people can see a bunch of different grains and hops and how they smell. Discussion on beer styles (ale vs lager, difference between porter and stout, etc). It would be 1-2 weeks past brew day, so likely it would be racking to secondary at the end of class. More sampling.

Session 4: Bottling day. Mostly bottling, but we'd discuss serving options (bottle or keg), discuss how the brews went, including any issues that came up. Yes, MORE sampling.

Session 5: 2 weeks later. Students encouraged to bring a bottle of their own brew in to see if it's ready, more sampling of other homebrews. Discussion of the next batch. Discussion of beginning to move forward in the hobby (extract vs pm vs all grain).

If the college goes for it, more power to you, but I'd be surprised to see it. I just think that there would be too many potential issues with minors, liabilities,etc. But, I'm no lawyer, and maybe they would do it. Good luck.

Bernie Brewer said:

If the college goes for it, more power to you, but I'd be surprised to see it. I just think that there would be too many potential issues with minors, liabilities,etc. But, I'm no lawyer, and maybe they would do it. Good luck.

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Yeah, I figured it was a long shot, but then again - there's no shame in inquiring. If they say yes..then we have fun. If they say no, then it dies.

I'd be willing to bet that even if they say yes now, there's still plenty of things that would make it likely to NOT happen.

My LHBS does a 1st Wednesday of the Month newbie session, but he tries to do it in the store while running the store, and it's usually a bunch of old heads (like myself - although I'm brewing only 1 year so far) bringing in some brew and BSing while 2 or 3 people try to pay attention to the brew. It's more of a party than a beginning brewing lesson.

I'd like to make it more about the learning and brewing than about the chilli cheese dip and grognards.

"How to Brew" for sure as a reference. No disrespect to Papa, but his technique is less refined and not as suited imo to a classroom.

Bernie Brewer said:

If the college goes for it, more power to you, but I'd be surprised to see it. I just think that there would be too many potential issues with minors, liabilities,etc. But, I'm no lawyer, and maybe they would do it. Good luck.

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The community college by me offers homebrewing as a course. It's four weeks long and meets once a week. They also offer a one session course on scotch and a one session course on microbrews.

Pictures, lots of pictures.

Start with a visual of what happens at a commercial brewery and then translate that process down to the home brew process.

Are you talking extract or AG?

srm775 said:

The community college by me offers homebrewing as a course. It's four weeks long and meets once a week. They also offer a one session course on scotch and a one session course on microbrews.

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Neat-O!!!!

orfy said:

Are you talking extract or AG?

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For a beginner class I would start with extract. I would offer (if allowed) a second course for basic AG brewing.

My brewing class was advertised twice by a major community education group and it got one inquery and no registrations. I guess it depends on where you are and the timing of it. Mine is three 2-hour sessions with one extract batch brewed. It took a well thought out class outline to get accepted, but that's about it.

Well, I got a response from the Director of Community Education and think things are at least progressing.

Her first line was: Let's talk! <-- exclamation point hers, not mine.

She asked that I fill out a quick proposal which is just a paragraph of the intended class and list of course objectives. I haven't gotten to the point of a class outline or anything yet, but I figure I should get started, just in case!

Bobby, care to attach your outline or email it to me?

I'm not 100% comfortable giving up the entire outline but here's the basic structure without all the 3rd and 4th indent details. I'm sure you'll be able to break it down further. I pitched the proposal as three 2-hour sessions. Week 1, theory, history, discussion, equipment and ingredients show and tell. Week 2, brew the extract batch. (skip week 3). Week 4, bottling day and any followup discussion. I designed the max class size (and batch size) so that each student would get at least a six pack. IMHO, price is what makes or breaks this thing and I think they overpriced it both times on me. In my case, if you provide the location, you still only get 50%.

Home Brewing Seminar Outline

1. Beer Overview
a. What is Beer?
b. Traditional Ingredients
i. Water
ii. Barley
iii. Hops
iv. Yeast
c. Brief History of Beer
i. Oldest known alcoholic beverage
ii. American Beer History

2. Home Brewing Overview
a. Legality
b. Popularity
c. Process of Brewing (with malt extract)
i. Necessary Equipment for 5 gallon batch
ii. Process
1. Brewing (class 2)
2. Fermenting
3. Bottling Day (class 3)



About the Instructor

Here&#8217;s where you explain why YOU should be the one they hire to teach the class&#8230;

Sounds like a great idea! I think "How to Brew" is the better reference - it's free! That means that students may be willing to pay a premium for ingredients and/or equipment since they didn't have to buy a book (certainly school policies will dictate further in this regard).

I think you could offer just one class and cover quite a bit of ground in both extract and AG brewing. The in-class brew would almost have to be an extract brew unless you cut some corners (like starting the mash before class). However, you could offer an optional out-of-classroom weekend session to show the AG process in action.

Good luck with the class!

You might also take a look a Chris Holst's Homebrewing for the Absolute Beginner course on eGullet.com. It's well thought out and takes beginning brewers through extract, extract w/steeped grains and partial mash brewing in a series of lessons two weeks apart. The Q&A that ran parallel (which can be accessed from the online course) will give you an idea of the sorts of questions you'll get.

Chad

I agree that palmer's online book is a great reference but I don't think he'd be comfortable with anyone using it in any commercial venture. Obviously, you could purchase a bunch of hard copies to use as the take-away manual. In any case, use whatever you can for the "pitch" and just hope that you get interest. Once you know you have a market, you can design it just about any way you want.