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Want to jumpstart a career in beer? Formal education might be just the ticket, whether you are looking to open your own brewery, or would like to get to know the ins and outs of working at one. Lucky for us here in Michigan, we have a few excellent programs available, where you can actually study the art and science of this lovely liquid, with a professional and decidedly academic approach.
"As the industry as a whole is maturing, the desire for education and the demand is there," said Allison Hoekstra, assistant professor in the brewing program at Grand Rapids Community College. "The days of being a homebrewer, where you could just walk in and get a job, those days are kind of over."
The program at GRCC was started in 2016 and puts a more formal, structured twist on beer education. Part of the Secchia Institute for Culinary Education, the courses, upon completion, award students certification in brewing, packaging, and service operations. The goal is to continue to develop the program so that someday it will offer an associate degree or another step along the path to a bachelor's degree.
BY Amy Sherman
GRCC's brewing program paving way for lovers of the craft
MIBREW TRAIL MAGAZINE
Spring 2022
Hoekstra explained that as they developed the program, they were "looking at the skills that industry members want in candidates for hiring in the brewhouse. They want knowledge of the brewhouse, cellaring and packaging, and brewhouse operations. It’s a very specified education that you need to get, or you need someone to personally mentor you, these are things that are not really self-taught. You can learn concepts, but programs like ours give you a hands-on experience that you won’t get anywhere else."
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You’ll also graduate with your Serv-Safe Alcohol certification, and you’ll officially be a Certified Beer Server. According to Hoekstra, her students are also prepared to sit for the Certified Cicerone test, with just a little additional study and memorization. She explained that while there is no accrediting body for beer programs, these industry certifications are "our guiding resources" for the program at GRCC.
Molly Daniels completed the program and is now a brewer at Railtown Brewing in Dutton. She made the choice to attend GRCC after graduating from the University of Michigan with plans to go to law school.
"My personality just didn’t fit the heavy law I was pursuing," she said. "I enjoyed the school part of it, but didn’t think that career would make me happy in the long term."
After working as both a substitute teacher and out West teaching horseback riding, Daniels heard about the program through her dad, who was the vice president of Monroe Community College. After a visit and a tour, she knew she had to do it and said it sounded "awesome."
"My only interest before was that I just liked drinking beer," Daniels said. "It’s a very mechanical technical job. It’s everything I enjoy doing."
When Daniels started the program in 2016, she was one of only two women in her cohort. The program was originally designed for students to take all of their classes together with their cohort over
"I love education, and really value it," she continued. "It’s a really good spot here at GRCC. I’m incredibly busy, but it’s really rewarding."
If you decide to attend, you can expect to take classes on sensory analysis, taproom management, beer ingredients, and marketing. One thing that sets GRCC apart from other programs is their onsite brewery, Fountain Hill Brewery, where students not only get to have the hands-on experience of making the beer, but also are the ones serving it, learning on the job how to talk about and share their creations.
the course of a year. Students would start and complete the program together. This didn’t prove practical for many students, who usually still have to hold down a job while attending school, so GRCC has since changed it, and you can now take classes a la carte according to your own timeline.
Daniels is now an adjunct instructor at GRCC in the brewing program, in addition to working at Railtown.
"I’m feeling very successful, and now I’m even teaching in the program," she said.
She currently teaches the beginning brewing class in the fall, and advanced brewing in the spring.
"We are working to give our students a full, well-rounded knowledge coming out," Daniels said. "With real industry experience in the classroom, the students get to see everything come full circle."
Hoekstra agreed.
"Working through the program, there are new opportunities for our students," she said. "Our interns, they have jobs before they even get to that part of the program. There is demand in the industry for them, there are opportunities for them. They are excited to be learning and have those hands-on opportunities."
Interested in learning more about studying beer in a formal setting? In addition to GRCC, Schoolcraft College in Livonia offers both a certification and an associate degree program in brewing and distillation technology. Kalamazoo Valley Community College and
Grand Rapids Community College
www.grcc.edu
MIBREW TRAIL MAGAZINE
spring 2022
Western Michigan University have teamed up to offer two tracks of study, one in brewing and one in operations. You can earn a certificate or associate degree from KVCC, and then continue your studies at WMU for your bachelor’s degree, with a focus on sustainability.
To be a dedicated gluten-free brewery means taking a different approach than those places that make gluten-reduced beers. A gluten-reduced beer is made the
Hoekstra also said the Michigan ReConnect program, which offers tuition assistance for people who
are over 25 and have not gotten a college degree yet, is a great way to maybe make attending school more possible. Money can be used for both degrees and certifications. She’d love to see more students taking advantage of this program.
"I’ve seen it with our students, their cost has gone down quite a bit," she said. "But I feel like the brewing and culinary programs haven’t really taken advantage of this program."
Daniels's advice for someone thinking about going into brewing as a career?
"You should pursue your interests, but it’s really hard to know what you like to do until you actually do it," she said. "So, start homebrewing, to see if you enjoy the science and the math and the real physical labor of it," prior to attending school, she suggested.
"You have to earn your place, and work your way up, like I did," Daniels continued. She started out as a keg washer at Railtown, then moved to cellar manager, before becoming a brewer. "You aren’t going to start out as a head brewer. You grow with the place, and everything you put into it you get out."
Key for both Daniels and Hoekstra is that they are both now in careers that they love.
"You have to make a living, but it’s not worth it to not love what you are doing every day," Daniels said."I’ve been so fortunate that I can make a living and love going to work every day."
"I love it," Hoekstra said. "It felt like a natural step in my career. I love watching students come in, try different styles of beer like a fruit lambic, and watch as their mind is blown. The internships offer an opportunity to be in a brewery getting real-life experience, and seeing how much in a year or a year and a half how far they can come in beginning a new career has been really rewarding."
Want to jumpstart a career in beer? Formal education might be just the ticket, whether you are looking to open your own brewery, or would like to get to know the ins and outs of working at one. Lucky for us here in Michigan, we have a few excellent programs available, where you can actually study the art and science of this lovely liquid, with a professional and decidedly academic approach.
"As the industry as a whole is maturing, the desire for education and the demand is there," said Allison Hoekstra, assistant professor in the brewing program at Grand Rapids Community College. "The days of being a homebrewer, where you could just walk in and get a job, those days are kind of over."
The program at GRCC was started in 2016 and puts a more formal, structured twist on beer education. Part of the Secchia Institute for Culinary Education, the courses, upon completion, award students certification in brewing, packaging, and service operations. The goal is to continue to develop the program so that someday it will offer an associate degree or another step along the path to a bachelor's degree.
“The brewhouse arrived mid-May,” Van Bommel said. “So from cradle to grave, from getting into the building until we got our MLCC approval, we were about 9 months.”
This is actually a surprisingly quick build for a brewery, especially during a pandemic. While there were logistical delays in getting equipment delivered, they weren't where many would think they'd occur. From China to Los Angeles, to Chicago, it only took the brewing equipment three weeks to transit. And then, when it was so close to home, the equipment sat in Chicago for three more weeks.
“It was kind of astonishing how much time that took,” Van Bommel said.
Stormcloud Brewing Company
www.brewerynyx.com
Van Bommel finally felt like they were making progress. They’ve been steadily adding West Michigan retailers as more and more beer is brewed and made available. The initial release of retail beers was to Bridge Street Market in Grand Rapids, and Brewery Nyx sold out the whole run in just five hours.
For now, Brewery Nyx beers are only available retail. Eventually, they hope to open a tasting room at their production facility on the Southwest side of Grand Rapids.
The yield for a true gluten-free beer is a bit different from a regular, malt-based brew, and that is why beers from Brewery Nyx are more expensive.
"The pricing is different," said Van Bommel. Nyx beers come in between $17 and $24 for a four-pack. We discussed the variance in the amount of ingredients used versus the resulting product.
“I’m hoping for about 100 cases," Van Bommel said. "If I get anywhere near that, I’ll be happy.”
“We have a lot more raw material," he added. "A typical 5.5% ABV beer is somewhere in the vicinity of 600 pounds (of ingredients) for a 10-barrel system. I build a beer with 1,000 pounds.”
“There are a couple of breweries in the area that have attempted to do gluten-reduced beers,” Van Bommel said. “Gluten reduced is not the same thing. You can argue it back and forth all day long, I don’t care. Gluten-free is a very specific thing. There are people that are much more likely to trust a gluten-free product than they are a gluten-reduced.”
To be clear, while there is a huge market for gluten-free anything, Brewery Nyx is doing this for both personal reasons, and for the greater beer-drinking good.