Niagara College Considers Suds School

[woodpecker]

from:
http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/Arti ... ?e=1586678

First, Niagara College branched into the wine teaching business.

On the horizon: Suds School.

If all goes as planned for a proposed brew master program, students could be pulling pints at an on-campus teaching brewery as soon as Fall 2010.
College staff, who have been working to get the program off the ground for more than a year, hope to find the same success teaching students to make brew as they have making wine.
If the program receives final approval, it would be the only college offering a beermaking diploma in Canada.
“It fits the model of the Niagara-on-the-Lake campus, with the wine and culinary and beer,” said Steve Gill, manager of the college’s winery and vineyard.
“It’s another gastronomic feature of the campus.”
For nine years, students have the studied the art of making wine and growing grapes by working in the vineyard and fermenting fruit at the college’s teaching winery at the Niagara-on-the-Lake campus.
Several have gone on to work in Niagara wineries and around the globe.

The same thing can be done with beer, Gill said.

The idea would be to offer about 24 to 36 students a two-year, hands-on diploma program in the world of mixing water, yeast, hops and malt for fine brew.
Plans even include an on-campus brewery or brew-pub to sell pints or bottles to the public — the same way the college sells the wine it makes through a retail store.
The focus would be on more specialized, premium craft beer, he said.
A range of courses would be offered from chemistry to beer sensory (examining the taste and properties of brew), to finance to business and sales.
Much like the wine industry in Ontario, the microbrewery and craft brew market in the province is growing, Gill said.

But there isn’t much training available, he said.

Among the few schools offering beermaking in North America are the Siebel Institute of Technology & World Brewing Academy, which has its head office in Chicago. It also has a campus in Montreal.
UC Davis in California also offers brewmaster programs.
The idea has the support of the Ontario Craft Brewers Association, which has worked with the college to develop the program.
Jason Britton, a brew master at Cameron’s Brewing Co. in Oakville, said the 30 or so small breweries in the province would love to see aspiring beermakers learn their craft at home.
Britton, who is on the association’s technical committee and learned to brew by taking courses in the U.S. and Britain, said most beermakers learn on the job.

“This is a chance to be getting people that are in a program and getting the theoretical training while receiving the practical aspects,” Britton said.

It’s the kind of program John Tiffin, co-owner of the Merchant Ale House on St. Paul Street in St. Catharines, would have considered taking 16 years ago.
Tiffin, 36, has been making beer since he was a teen, and perfected the craft as a fun sideline during his years studying chemistry and geology at college and later university.
Today, the brew-pub offers 11 different beers and makes more than 70 per cent of the suds it sells.

“There was no local program offered (then),” said Tiffin, a St. Catharines native.

“Certainly, if there was a local program, who knows? Maybe I never would have went to school in Hamilton and Waterloo.”

Tiffin said he’d love to see the college program get off the ground, and sees an opportunity for new beer innovations to emerge.
College spokesman Gord Hunchak said the beer program is on hold until space can be found to house the equipment-heavy program.
With a growing student population, the college is facing a space crunch, he said.
The course has already advertised in the college’s program calender and garnered a lot of interest, Gill said.
The college is currently building a 7,500 square foot Wine Education & Visitor Centre, but there is not enough space for the beer program.

[SteelbackGuy]

Sounds good.

I've had a few wines from the Niagara College Teaching School. Good stuff.

[wittaker]

Where was this 12 years ago? Stupid Environmental Management Degree.

[Magni]

I would hardly say the Merchant has 'perfected' it's beers but the public does like them, heck, I used to drink there every night of the week.

This is interesting though, something definitely to consider.

[icemachine]

Wonder if it will be covered under the EI retraining programs. It'd make for a decent career change

[dutchcanuck]

I'm on EI since being laid off at the end of April and I would most definitely make a 'career change'.

[Ale's What Cures Ya]

Can always use another piece of paper on the wall. I'd definitely take this course.

[Belgian]

Ontario need MORE frustrated, talented brewers. Only kidding. Sorta.

[JerCraigs]

I think its great but I question whether or not there are enough domestic jobs for 24-36 new brewers each year. I'd like to be proven wrong, but I am skeptical. I suppose there is nothing to say that they can't get educated here and move elsewhere, or perhaps our local breweries will grow enough to need them. Who knows.

[matt7215]

hopefully we will see the grads open nano-breweries/brewpubs. there is no way they will all get jobs so some will have to create their own employment. hopefully the class requires bi-weekly trips to buffalo and the required reading involves beer websites.

[Rob Creighton]

I think its great but I question whether or not there are enough domestic jobs for 24-36 new brewers each year. I'd like to be proven wrong, but I am skeptical. I suppose there is nothing to say that they can't get educated here and move elsewhere, or perhaps our local breweries will grow enough to need them. Who knows.

Domestic...why domestic? They have a wine program that feeds a smaller industry than the brewing industry. Molbatt will be the biggest sponsors and employers. This will be the only program in NA devoted to brewing. The Seibal programs are very limited because of limited time. Their association with Doeman's offers hope but I don't consider them to be anything more than 2 weeks to 4 months intensive exposure to brewing science.

The UC Davis program has always associated itself with fermentation science in the broadest sense. The Niagara program offers the potential of training brewery employees that can be immediately useful in a company with exposure to all aspects of brewing including marketing and business operations. The addition of a fully functional craft brewery on site that must sell to survive gives very practical experience that I as an employer would look positively at.

There will be a broad range of opportunities for diploma graduates but please get the "hey kids...look! I'm a brewmaster" notion out of your head. A brewmaster is a plant manager, plain and simple. You don't stand around with knowing smiles gazing and sampling your product all day. Macro plant brewers probably spend more time handling HR issues and grievences than they do handling brewing issues or product development.

The graduates from Niagara will fit in with entry level jobs and actually be useful. Whether they become plant managers is subject to the same time,politics and fate considerations that every employee in every company goes through.

[Timmy]

I wonder if they would have a beginners course...I bought some brewing equipment a while ago and would like a little guidance. Not sure if i would want to go for two years.....

Hell I probably would if I could persuade my work to pay for it.....

[Magni]

That would also be sweet. A crash brewing course for homebrewers. I'm sure there will be an intro course for people interested.

[AlanB]

I think its great but I question whether or not there are enough domestic jobs for 24-36 new brewers each year.

Shoot, I bet a big outfit like Molson or Labatt could take them.

Hey! Ow! Stop throwing stuff... !

[JerCraigs]

An excellent reply Rob. I had assumed the the Seibel etc. programs were a bit more robust, and I was also unfairly discounting the job opportunities at the big boys.