Are there any brewing short courses?

[othevad]

Hey dudes.

I (like may of you) aspire to maybe upgrade my batch potential into a bbl or larger system sometime in the next year or so. Maybe going and doing the nano thing sometime after that. Before I do that however, I was wondering if anyone knew of any brewing short courses/seminars that took place that were good (anywhere in the country, but preferably east coast)
As much as I'd love to go to brewing school, I'm in my mid 30's and I've already attained two degrees so i can't fathom going back to school again (nor can my wife =)

I was doing a search online but didn't find anything. Does anyone have any idea? Something that might just be a 1 or 2 week course.
thanks!

 

[xtian116]

I'd recommend hanging out at your nearest microbrewery and getting to know the people. From my experience, most of the are nice people willing to take you in the back and show you how they do it. I've been to a few and just mentioned that I've been looking int to starting a brewery, within 30 minutes, they have me in the back showing me their setup. Actually gotten to go to a couple when they're closed and watch the process, ask questions, and learned a ton.

 

[othevad]

Hey man.

I did just that. I'm going into assist and hang out on a batch on Tuesday morning. I just flat out emailed every brewery within 40 miles of me and said "hey! show me stuff! =)

 

[thatjonguy]

Maybe the Siebel Concise Brewing course, but it is almost $4k for online class. Not sure what you might learn beyond what is on this forum besides applying it in a commercial brewery.

 

[othevad]

yeah man.
If I'm gonna drop 4k, I better get some hands on. =)
I would like to learn stuff in the commercial arena a bit more, but I think just contacting as many breweries as possible in my area and trying to see what the goings on are is probably the way to go.
thanks dudes.

 

[thatjonguy]

Coloradoboy.com

Plus you get to take someone with to learn the business side.

 

[xtian116]

Just hanging out at a place I like has always worked for me for some "hands on". I don't know if I've just gotten lucky, or the owners around me are really cool.

 

[Nightshade]

Brew...a lot
Read...a lot
Practice what you read while brewing....a lot

There is so much written on every aspect of brewing including the chemistry side that there is very little you can't learn through good ol fashioned reading and practical application.

 

[RainyDay]

Try and get in with a local brewery. Heck, volunteer some free labor! Nothing like learning via doing.

 

[othevad]

So I ended up running a session for yesterday with a local distillery (they make beer which in turn they distill into whisky)
From there I got put in touch with a few more local guys and going next week to run a batch at a local brewpub.
I guess this is the way to go.
I never thought I'd have so much fun lugging 50lb grain sacks on my back =P