Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Brewpub and Brewery Operations: A Preview

How the time flies - over a month since my last post! Well, the semester is just about over and we're ready to send some graduates out into the world - not the best time in this economy, but many of them are going to grad school.

Normally, I would not look forward to teaching a course in summer. In fact, I try to avoid it so that I can catch up on research. However, this year a special opportunity was offered to me and I could not turn it down. For three weeks, I will be co-teaching a 3-credit course on Brewpub and Brewery Operations (HRIM-404) with a colleague from Hotel, Restaurant, and Institutional Management. The course has been offered in past years - always during our May intersession, but this is the first time I've been involved. The gentleman whose position I'm taking will be off to his daughter's wedding ... lucky me!

Tom, the HRIM faculty, is responsible for all of the aspects involved in alcohol service, etc. I, as the homebrewing geeky scientist, am responsible for the brewing process and styles lectures. Together we will also guide them in costing and designing a brewpub, and take some field trips.

This week, I've been polishing and adding to the slides on my lectures and today I picked up the ingredients for two five-gallon batches of beer that we're brewing on Day 1. Both Tom and I have been talking with regional brewers to set up visits during Week 2.

So, I will make every attempt to narrate what we cover in class from May 4-22 in order to share what the class is about (for those of you who wanted to take it but couldn't).

More to come!