The first ever General Certificate of Brewing Course took place at Brew-School in Bakewell at the start of October. The five day course with expert brewer Tim O'Rouke was a huge success with a bevie of 20 brewers from across the country and as far as Portugal looking to refine their brewing knowledge and also prepare themselves to take the exam with the Institute of Brewing and Distilling (IBD).
The course which mixed brewing theory with brewery visits to Thornbridge Brewery in Bakewell and Brampton Brewery in Chesterfield to see the different styles of brewing within a small and medium sized microbreweries. It was a fascinating insight into how you can brew on a very small commercial scale with a 9 barrel plant purchase for £50,000 brewing only 3 time a weel but also with a regional scale brewery employing the latest brewing techniques including a centrifuge to filter the bottled and cask conditioned beer.
As well as covering an extensive syllabus required to sit the exam for the
General Certificate of Brewing there was plenty of opportunities for people to explore all aspects of the brewing process. There emerged very interesting differences in brewing practice from the brewers at St. Austell to some of the smaller brewers in the micros . It was also interesting listening to some of the attendees looking at setting up their own microbrewery and how they viewed the process. Over the 5 days our brewers looked at the following topics:
MONDAY
Beer Styles * Malting * Adjuncts * Mash Conversion * Milling * Mash separation
TUESDAY
Wort Boiling * Fermentation theory * Fermentation principles * Brewing yeast
WEDNESDAY
Beer maturation & Cold storage * Beer Prep Bright Beer * Beer Quality & process
Beer Flavour
THURSDAY
Microbiology * Quality Systems * Cleaning Detergents * CIP * Water & Effluent
FRIDAY
Process gases * Environment * Exam techniques
On top of the theory there was a lot of fun. We had several evening events consisting of a beer matching and tasting event looking at beer styles and how they compliment different food types.
Thursday was rounded off with a Gala Dinner in Rileys in Bakewell. Four courses of stunning locally inspired food all paired with beers from local brewing legend Thornbridge Brewery.
STARTERS
CREAM OF WHITE ONION SOUP
FRESHLY CHURNED BUTTER, TRUFFLE OIL, HOMEMADE BREAD
MAINS
SLOW ROAST NEW CLOSE FARM PORK BELLY
BLACK PUDDING CROQUETTE, FINE BEANS, WHOLE GRAIN MUSTARD SAUCE
DESSERTS
CHOCOLATE GARDEN
BROWNIE, MOUSSE, GANACHE, SOLI, FLOWERS
CHEESE
DOVE DALE BLUE
SERVED WITH TRADITIONAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Following on from the success of Brew-Schools first
General Certificate in Brewing we will be repeating the course next year so why not sign up to get the inside track on craft beer brewing.
