That's "Professor" Asshat to you!

[Spurtrax]

I have been approached by a local community college to teach an adult enrichement course on homebrewing. My plan is to make an extract simple beer, like a mild or something, the first class, give a demonstration on all grain the second class and bottle our beer the third class.

The basic message I want to convey is this: As long as you keep things clean and a constant temp anyone can make beer.

My question is this: What are helpful hints you guys would pass along to a room full of people who have never brewed before?

[thatguy314]

I would emphasize that it's not hard, if you obey the basic principles, and there's a lot of creativity. However, I'd tell them that brewing beer is a lot like cooking food: you didn't make a perfect beef wellington your first time behind the stove. It's easy to make drinkable beer, not that hard to make pretty good beer, but takes some practice and skill to make truly excellent beer. So don't let a batch in the beginning that you're less than happy with deter you anymore than overcooking your first egg would prevent you from making breakfast in the future.

[Datamike]

My question is this: What are helpful hints you guys would pass along to a room full of people who have never brewed before?

Brewing without pants is a requirement.

[brewinhard]

Brew... then while waiting for that batch to be ready, brew again! Get your process down to brew better beers.

Sanitation/cleanliness is next to godliness... (huh?)

Read as much literature as possible.

Oh yeah, join the BN!!!

Cheers -

Brewinhard

[jwatkins56550]

Stress the importance that fermentation makes a beer. I think the class should include tasting the beer you brewed for them...If I had signed up for that class, and didnt get to taste the beer that was brewed in front of me, I would be pissed...if time is of an issue, brew the exact same beer the exact same way earlier and serve it on the last day.



I think for my first class I would give the students some beer, like the style I am going to be brewing that day...

I dunno if I would do a mild..the lower carbonation isn't perceived well by everyone...maybe an alt, or a more approachable style

[Spurtrax]

I don't have to do a mild. I was thinking something that would ferment fast but I am not a huge fan of Hefeweisen, I think it is overrated. Maybe an APA or amber would be better.

[spiderwrangler]

I think that the basics of yeast metabolism are important for an understanding of making beer. That being said, too much detail can certainly be overwhelming for beginners. A discussion of the four basic ingredients and what each of those bring to the beer opens up understanding of how everything balances together in the final product.

[Weenie Boy]

The importance of fermentation temperature!

Weenie Boy