Announcments and News

This event is already on the calendar, but I wanted to let everyone know that we are officially registered with a Rock Hoppers booth to pour our beer alongside the commercial breweries featured in the festival. RHBC’s beers will be eligible for the “people’s choice” award which is the beer receiving the most votes from the attending public. I think this is a really great opportunity for the club and an opportunity to get more miles out of that NHC bar Greg slaved away building.

So, we need to get a signup going for beers to take to the festival. I would suggest beers in the 4.5-7% ABV range as there will be a lot of beer up there and this is an event for the general public, not a hall full of beer geeks. I believe the NHC bar has room for 7 taps, but we would like to bring at least 4 beers to represent the club. If you can make and donate a 5 gallon keg, please comment below and include what you’ll be making. We have plenty of time before the festival, but I wanted to give everyone a heads up so they can plan their brews.

I also would like to get a head count on who will actually make the drive up to Evanston to participate. The event includes big wheel racing, so you know you want to go!  Details will follow on setup and hotel logistics as I would expect we want to stay the night up there (approximately 4 hour drive). See the actual event posting for time, etc of the festival.

Would anyone be interested in some Rock Hopper beer coasters for their home bar?  Reason being, I found a place that makes coasters but requires a minimum order.  I was thinking the Rock Hopper oval logo on the front and the penguin logo on the back.  They’d be something like $5 for 50 coasters.  I am getting some samples sent out this week of the differnt weights of coasters.  Would anyone be interested in some?

Many of you probably already know this….. but….

The Bourbon Barrel Baltic Porter can cause hallucinations.

That’s all I’m going to say.

Now if you’ll excuse me I must go deal with a very large green lizard that keeps swooping at me when I least expect it. 

Siebel Institute

TwinTrack Brewing Microbiology Course

As the technology of brewing microbiological analysis has made tremendous strides in the last 20 years, many breweries are looking for courses that addresses the emergence of new analytical techniques. At the same time, some breweries want training that educates in time-tested traditional lab analysis, providing the basis of an industry-standard QC/QA program. How do you address the needs of both types of students in one program?

The Siebel Institute TwinTrack Brewing Microbiology Program (May 25 – June 5, 2009)  in Montreal, Canada) provides the answer.  

Using our unique TwinTrack course design system, students can choose the direction of their course content depending on their individual needs:

• For those interested in instruction dealing in basic brewing industry lab techniques, the Essential Brewing Microbiology Track is the right choice, offering two weeks of instruction in the bedrock principles of brewing laboratory operations.  The Essential Track will give students skills to deal in areas like yeast propagation & maintenance, staining & identification of microorganisms, plating & aseptic handling techniques, and the full range of industry-standard lab QC/QA practices.