business principles, strategies, marketing and public relations techniques related to brewery operations, including sales, human resource management, and government legislation. Understanding the state of the current beer industry, including technology, production, packaging, handling, and advertising are also necessary skills the course intends to bestow upon its students. The college will be exploring the use of different yeasts and growing their own barley and hops on campus, enabling the students to study the beer making process from “grain to glass”. The other courses deal with business mathematics, computer applications, workplace communication, and workplace professionalism. By the second year, students will continue to learn more about the history of brewing, and will also learn to evaluate wine and spirits as well. They will also begin formulating their own beer recipes, and learn more about filtration, carbonation, finishing and packaging. Courses on specialty brewing, beer evaluation, judging and the state of the brewing industry today will give the students an idea of what is being produced in the real world. Finally, courses in brewery and human resources
management, beer sales and promotions will all involve understanding breweries’ personnel and marketing requirements. The instructors for this program come with a wide range of experience. While some of the educators for the business classes are incumbent Olds faculty, the brewing specific courses will come from a broad spectrum of educators. The principal brewmaster is Duncan Britton, who trained at the Siebel Institute in Chicago, as well as in Germany, and has worked for a couple of breweries in Alberta. The plan is to also involve local brewmasters working in the industry to offer their insights throughout the program, as well as other people working in the beer business, such as importers, sales agents, marketers, retail beer salespeople etc., in order to provide a holistic view of the industry. Of course, there are numerous chances for the students to intern at local breweries, and, with their facilities, they should be able to hone their skills with some topnotch home brewing. The hope is that by graduation date in early 2015, the graduates of the inaugural class will either go on to further their brewery education, or fill the need for skilled brewery personnel and management staff at new or existing breweries.
As craft beer continues to be a growth industry, the need for people with technical skills not only in beer making and brewery/ brew pub operations, but also in marketing, public relations, licensee and agency sales and operations through to the retail sales and special events level will continue to grow.
For more information on the Olds College Brewmaster and Brewery Operations Management program see www.ocbeer.ca
Let’s hope, with the addition of some savvy investors, we are at the dawn of the “Great Alberta Brewery Explosion”.