Week 5 - Good Time To Be Sick (February 25, 2014)

I've been hit by a second sickness in as many weeks. Last week it was sneezy, sniffy, watery eyes. This week it's a severe cough accompanied by delirium and dizziness. I didn't even go to class yesterday and missed the weekly tests. I went today but was seriously rethinking it as I was driving there. I kept wondering what it would be like to faint for the first time in my life and have the added complication of doing it on I-80. Luckily, it was a light day. Dr. Lewis just reviewed topics from the last 4 weeks: Barley, Malting and Mashing. I had time to take the tests on my own during lunch. And the afternoon brought a guest speaker.

We were lucky enough to listen to Vinnie Cilurzo of Russian River Brewing Company. I've got to say, I'm feeling a little star struck. On a daily basis we get Dr. Charlie Bamforth and Dr. Michael Lewis. Last week, we got to listen to Ken Grossman of Sierra Nevada. And today it was Vinnie. Vinnie told his story and the story of Russian River. His talk was focused on his production of barrel aged sour beers. It was fascinating and an opportunity to hear details about a topic that we haven't hit on yet. He also brought along some beer. We started with 3 sours and ended with the cult-like favorite Pliny the Elder. Thanks, Vinnie! Again, there are worse places to have to be when you're sick.

Russian River Brewing Company beers brought by Vinnie

Myself and Vinnie Cilurzo of Russian River Brewing Co.

Pliny the Elder

Seriously, Beer Did Save the World (February 23, 2014)

So I thought I posted this video long ago. In talking to someone that follows my post, I discovered I didn't. There's a million things I could try to share with you right now to show how amazing beer is. But it wouldn't do any good. So I think I'll just share this video. It's about 40 minutes. I know that's a lot of time. But if you put the kids to bed and then have a little time to kill, check it out. I've come to believe that beer really did save the world.

How Beer Saved The World

Week 4 (February 17-21, 2014)

So this week the focus is Mashing Biochemistry and Mashing Technology. At least that's the brewing part. I haven't had a chance to do the engineering or sensory science readings yet for Thursday and Friday. We had Monday off which was nice to have an extra day to do more reading with no additional notes.

Yesterday afternoon we got a really nice treat. Ken Grossman, the owner of Sierra Nevada Brewing Company, came to visit Dr. Bamforth's UC Davis Introduction to Brewing class as a guest speaker. He invited all the Master Brewers Students to attend. So I did.

I know I've been talking a lot lately about Ken Grossman. But I can't help it. It's an absolutely fascinating story. If you don't know anything about it, you should check out his book, "Beyond the Pale". I'm in the middle of it. He shared the story of how he started Sierra Nevada in Chico and how he is about to open a second brewery in Ashleigh, North Carolina. The plans for it were truly amazing (his own water treatment plant, underground rainwater collection devices, his own railroad line with custom rail car, and the list goes on). I've included a fun video clip from his presentation that demonstrates open fermentation of his Big Foot beer. It's pretty fun to watch.

I think the last update is that I've signed up for an interview to take a two-week internship at Deschutes Brewery in Bend, Oregon. The interview is next Friday. We'll see how it goes. I'm also considering applying for a two week internship at Hangar 24 Craft Brewery in Redlands, California. Wish me luck!

Bigfoot Fermentation Time-Lapse

Working Lunch (February 14, 2014)

So most days I stay in the classroom during lunch and read or work on problems or review my notes while I eat. Most people leave the classroom and go out to lunch or go home. But this Friday my mom came to town and it seemed like a great time to take a true break and not work during lunch. A classmate recommended Café Bernado in Davis (http://www.paragarys.com/sacramento-restaurants/cafe-bernardo/cafe-bernardo-davis/). One of the only other two female classmates joined my mom and I at a really yummy and relaxing lunch. And one of the best parts of being in beer school is feeling like I'm obligated to try different beer as often as I can. A beer with lunch is no longer a guilty pleasure but is now a professional duty! This one was Hairy Eyeball, a dark ale by Lagunitas (http://lagunitas.com/beers/hairy-eyeball/#). It was fantastic and I highly recommend it! Oh, the pizza was amazing, too. After this, we got to go back for a relaxing and interesting afternoon of sensory science with Sue Langstaff (http://appliedsensory.com/About_Us.php). She always teaches us so much about improving our ability to be more sensitive and descriptive. It was a perfect Friday!

Week 3 (February 10-14, 2014)

In week 3 we focused on water and hops. The good news is that I did much better on the practice test on Monday covering Barley and Malting then I did on the enzymes test the previous week. So I now think I know what I have to do each week to prepare and review in a better way. We got to have a guest speaker in the middle of the week which was a nice change of pace. Dr. Paul Matthews from SS Steiner Inc. (a hop breeding company) came in and spoke for a couple hours. It was all equally interesting and over my head. I also got a better handle on the engineering this week and that felt really good. It was the first time anyone came to check their work with me! I'm going to enjoy that feeling while it lasts.

I've attached an article about Ken Grossman, the owner of Sierra Nevada Brewing Company in Chico, CA. I've come to admire him immensely in a very short time.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/briansolomon/2014/02/12/king-of-craft-beer-how-sierra-nevada-is-winning-the-hops-war/2/

Day 7-10 (Week 2) Brain Overload (February 4-7, 2014)

Clearly, I'm in the second week. I thought I could write everyday, but I can't. Things have started to get crazy busy and I'm drowning. Only in that, "I'm drowning but I know I'm going to make it" way. Suffice it to say this was the week of overload. I truly think my brain could not take in any more information. I don't know who thinks they know what beer is really about. But if you haven't taken this class, or if you aren't a brewer, you don't. I've learned about more enzymes and proteins than you can imagine. I won't bore you with their names. I spent 4 hours today, yes, 4 hours, on one engineering problem, only to discover I did it wrong. I will spend my Saturday finding the mistake and correcting it. And this was a problem from an old exam that will have to be done in 30 minutes or less if it pops up on this years' exam. It was about volumetric flow rate from one reservoir to another tank using Bernoulli's equation (3 times, I might add).

On a high note, who knew that Sensory Science was so sexy? Seriously. I've never examined the word supple so closely. And, after you've started to practice your sensory science skills, you can never smell anything or taste anything again without thinking about the chemicals that are in it. Kind of ruined food and drink. But at least I sound smart about it.

 I will spend the rest of my life trying to do for beer what wine has done for itself so nicely. Beer is complex, scientific, elegant, intellectual, and incredibly sensitive. How the beer community has missed out on marketing it as such, I will never know. I'll do it. We're going to turn this around. Whenever you drink a beer, you should feel way classier than you probably do. There was an unbelievable amount of work that went into making that beer, seriously, like thousands of years of experience and knowledge. Even if it's Coors Light or Budweiser. Actually, especially if it is. Not that I drink them. But we should all bend over and kiss the ground and thank the brewing Gods for AB and Coors for paving the way for all the rest of us to brew anything. More to say about this later.

Delirium is setting in. I need to sleep or study. There is nothing else.

(I just reread this after a night's sleep and realize this sounds pretty negative or aggressive, but it's reflective of how tired I was. I want to make it clear, I LOVE what I'm learning. It's just that it is more information from all the disciplines of science than I would have thought was possible to combine at one time.)

Day 6 - Support (February 3, 2014)

It's the first day of the second week and I think I've started to adjust to the routine of things. We spent the morning with Dr. Bamforth which is really nice because he's so funny and energetic. It's also topics I really enjoy (today it was barley). After a lunch spent reading, we took our first practice test. 30 minutes for an essay question (What are enzymes? How do they work? What affects their actions? Use no brewing references) and 1 hour for a short answer test (bonds, pH, acids/bases, and buffers, proteins and enzymes and carbohydrates). It wasn't fun but I think I did better than I expected to.

What I mostly wanted to mention today is support. Doing this program was like jumping off a cliff. It came with huge sacrifice and change. And at every turn, I've been supported. My kids are adjusting and being understanding about having less of me. My friends and family have been 100% encouraging. And my wonderful husband has taken up the slack and given me permission to do whatever I need to get through this the best that I can. I'm a lucky girl!

First Brewing (February 1, 2014)

 One nice feature of the Brewing program is that they've made Sudwerk Brewery available to a group of 5 students to come in on the weekends to brew. So I went in for the first weekend. I'm not exactly sure what we brewed. But we were able to split it up into three different batches and pitch a different yeast into each one. We'll see what comes out in the end.