My Adventure into the World of Beer
How I Got Into Beer
The first time I tried a beer, I hated it. It was my senior year of high school. I took a trip with my family to Europe and had my first experience drinking some beer. It definitely wasn’t any sort of beer to scream home about. Unfortunately, I thought that all beer would taste just like that one awful drink I had, and it was just an acquired taste.
While in college, I got more into drinking beer for the social aspect of it. Again, never really drinking any beer that I thought was particularly good. After a while, I started to develop a taste for lagers and thought those were going to be my favorite kind of beer. I also liked ciders, but those aren’t beer in the traditional definition of beer. I later discovered the movement of craft beer and have since determined that there are many great beers out there. I’m excited to try most, if not all of them.
First Thoughts of the Industry
While in college, I also discovered a side of beer that I hadn’t really thought much about: Brewing Beer. Obviously, beer must come from somewhere. I had just never really thought about all of the work that goes into it. A college friend was studying Fermentation Science. He was learning everything there was to learn about beer. Including brewing it, serving it, and even how to start and run a business around the delicious drink.
As someone studying entrepreneurship, this was something that was extremely interesting to me. I seriously considered taking on Fermentation Science as a second major and did a lot of research into it. At the end of the day (and after learning it would take an extra year and a half) I decided to major in it wouldn’t be the best move for me. This is when I decided I would learn more about it as a side project.
Starting to Home Brew
My first homebrew of an Irish Red Ale. The start of my passion.
Trying beers is great and all, but one of my favorite things to do is to tour a brewery. I truly love going into the back of breweries and seeing how each of them are set up. So far I haven’t gone into any two breweries that are set up the same way. Of course, they have the same or similar equipment, but they are laid out differently and it’s interesting to see how each place lays them out.
Continuing my Education
When I moved out to San Diego I was excited to learn about the Professional Certificate in the Business of Craft Beer program at San Diego State University. The program has a number of different classes and teaches you about every aspect of the craft beer industry. The first class is required and goes through the basics of craft beer, from the history to pairing with your favorite foods. The rest of the courses will teach you everything from beer styles, to setting up and maintaining a draught system, and even the finances of running a brewery.
So far I have taken four of the classes and am planning on taking at least nine of them to get the expanded certificate, if not all of them. From home brewing and books to classes and tours, I am striving to just expand my knowledge of the world of beer. How do you learn about beer?
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