A few weeks ago, I posted about attending Beer School at the Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts. Instead of weekly updates, I have opted to do a midterm update as well as a postmortem in order to give you my impressions of the course. Seeing as we are at the half way point of the course, I’d better get summarizing. (note – if you like the beer school homework book you can buy one here)

Class 1 – Basics, History, and Tasting

In the first class we got right down to it by covering the basics of beer, followed by the history, and then tasting techniques. Beer basics should be just that for anyone who actively reads truecask.com – basics. The differences between lagers and ales, what countries are known for what styles, and various other facts and figures mark the bulk of the information. History, of course, covers the first known beer recipes dating back to early Babylonian times, all the way up to the modern North American craft beer revolution. Finally, we got to tasting techniques. Of course when one learns how to taste beer they must, you know, taste beer. Clearly this was the reward at the end of our information rainbow, and becomes a recurring theme in the weeks to come.

Class 2 – Brewing

Class two actually started with a refresher on how to taste beer and then got into the finer points of brewing. Once travailing down the knowledge path of how to brew beer, we covered the four main ingredients: water, malt, yeast, and hops in quite some detail. In addition to this, we also covered adjuncts, but I know many traditional beer fans would be upset with me if i included them in the same sentence as the four main ingredients. From there we covered the process of brewing in great detail. Although I can’t even being to get into what was covered, I can give you the coles notes version: milling, mashing, resting, lautering, boiling, cooling, fermentation, and conditioning.

Class 3 – Belgian Styles

Pop quiz hotshot: you’ve mashed in and done both protein & beta rests – what comes next? Yep thats right; us beer pupils received a test and none of us were prepared. Call it a wake up call to all of us who thought our passion would get us through. One, yes one of our fellow students managed to pass the test with a respectable mark. Needless to say many of us need to study more. Despite the rather disappointing reality check, we eagerly dove into the world of Belgian beers. What can I say but Dubbel, Trippel, Saison, and Trappist oh my! Of course I have a special place in my heart for the Flanders Red and sure enough that night’s tasting had a fantastic example – Jolly Pumpkin La Roja. Guess Belgians aren’t the only ones who can make their beer.

Class 4 – German Styles

Class four opened with another test and although we all managed to do much better, things were not exactly perfect. I faltered when it came to the Trappist breweries, specifically my ability to name all of them. Luckily for me I had a chance to redeem myself by learning all about German styles of beer. Anyone who knows much about beer knows that in Germany if it isn’t lager, it isn’t being drank. For many people this would imply we are at the flavorless portion of the course, but keep in mind these are not your daddies American macros. Complexity in subtlety is possibly one of the most difficult things to pull off; in fact, even saying that sentence proves to be a challenge. However, this is the name of the game for the Germans. Well, that and making sure their bottom fermented brews pair well with pork. If you need that to be explained, then I suggest taking Beer School next time its offered.

Overall Impressions

I must say at this point the course is everything I could have asked for and more. Between the in depth lectures and varied tastings I feel as if my pallet is growing at a rapid rate. Additionally, I’m laying a solid foundation in the science of brewing and will soon be able to discuss the alchemy that it is with the best of them. Keep an eye out for my postmortem in another few weeks. By then I hope to say I am well on my way to becoming a Ciceron.

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