So the college I work at just announced in their latest flier that they have teamed up with Ale Asylum (located less than a mile away) are teaching “craft beer courses” for a “Craft Beer Certification”. Kind of neat that they would start doing something like that.
Interesting.
Besides curiosity what are the benefits of holding a “Craft Beer Certification”.
Kinda sounds like a “money making / self promotion” scheme to me.
The school industry in America is out of control. Cheating, fudged statistics of student placement, incompetent teachers, the list goes on and on…
I digress, these types of things just irk me.
So, it irks you that people that are interested in home brewing and want to learn more about it would actually take a class? Isn’t this the same hobby you enjoy and try to get better at with each batch do you?
Read the text on the pic of the first flyer if you want to know what the benefits of holding a “Craft Beer Certification” are.
“Kinda sounds like a “money making / self promotion” scheme to me.”
Yea like all those self promoting greedheads out there writing books on the subject. How dare they?! :lol:
[quote=“dannyboy58”]“Kinda sounds like a “money making / self promotion” scheme to me.”
Yea like all those self promoting greedheads out there writing books on the subject. How dare they?! :lol: [/quote]
Hey, don’t talk about Denny like that 
[quote=“Psebrute”]So, it irks you that people that are interested in home brewing and want to learn more about it would actually take a class? Isn’t this the same hobby you enjoy and try to get better at with each batch do you?
Read the text on the pic of the first flyer if you want to know what the benefits of holding a “Craft Beer Certification” are.[/quote]
I would then be Cicerone Certified? Whoopdy Freakin’ do.
What information can be gathered from this course that can’t be gathered from a book written by those self-promoting greedheads, or better yet, just brewing something yourself!
[quote=“ManfredBenson1st”]Interesting.
Besides curiosity what are the benefits of holding a “Craft Beer Certification”.
Kinda sounds like a “money making / self promotion” scheme to me.
The school industry in America is out of control. Cheating, fudged statistics of student placement, incompetent teachers, the list goes on and on…
I digress, these types of things just irk me.[/quote]
what? Yeah damn people teaching other to be better brewers…
[quote=“grainbelt”][quote=“ManfredBenson1st”]Interesting.
Besides curiosity what are the benefits of holding a “Craft Beer Certification”.
Kinda sounds like a “money making / self promotion” scheme to me.
The school industry in America is out of control. Cheating, fudged statistics of student placement, incompetent teachers, the list goes on and on…
I digress, these types of things just irk me.[/quote]
what? Yeah damn people teaching other to be better brewers…[/quote]
So you’re saying you wouldn’t be throwing your time and money away taking that course? What do you believe you’d learn that you don’t already know or can’t gather from common brewing literature or forums?
[quote=“ManfredBenson1st”][quote=“grainbelt”][quote=“ManfredBenson1st”]Interesting.
Besides curiosity what are the benefits of holding a “Craft Beer Certification”.
Kinda sounds like a “money making / self promotion” scheme to me.
The school industry in America is out of control. Cheating, fudged statistics of student placement, incompetent teachers, the list goes on and on…
I digress, these types of things just irk me.[/quote]
what? Yeah damn people teaching other to be better brewers…[/quote]
So you’re saying you wouldn’t be throwing your time and money away taking that course? What do you believe you’d learn that you don’t already know or can’t gather from common brewing literature or forums?[/quote]
That depends on the class…no idea what this class has to offer, but there is nothing wrong with it and yes it will benefit people wether they are complete newbies or have some knowledge of brewing. THese basically look like beginner classes for people wanting to get certified or even further.
It is a free market
Reading the internet forums for brewing adivce…ha I won’t even go there…
[quote=“grainbelt”]That depends on the class…no idea what this class has to offer, but there is nothing wrong with it and yes it will benefit people wether they are complete newbies or have some knowledge of brewing. THese basically look like beginner classes for people wanting to get certified or even further.
It is a free market
Reading the internet forums for brewing adivce…ha I won’t even go there…[/quote]
Get certified for what? Homebrewing? ROFL… That just wreaks of money making scheme, IMHO.
I would say the likes of Denny, AJDelange, MABrungard, etc… offer vary good advice on the forums.
[quote=“ManfredBenson1st”][quote=“grainbelt”]That depends on the class…no idea what this class has to offer, but there is nothing wrong with it and yes it will benefit people wether they are complete newbies or have some knowledge of brewing. THese basically look like beginner classes for people wanting to get certified or even further.
It is a free market
Reading the internet forums for brewing adivce…ha I won’t even go there…[/quote]
Get certified for what? Homebrewing? ROFL… That just wreaks of money making scheme, IMHO.
I would say the likes of Denny, AJDelange, MABrungard, etc… offer vary good advice on the forums.[/quote]
wow…
You do not know good advice when you are reading a book or reading a forum you are trusting a source and have to figure it out on your own.
a certified ceicerone, bjcp judge, professional brewer, lab work/yeast labs/counting cells etc…
[quote=“grainbelt”]wow…
You do not know good advice when you are reading a book or reading a forum you are trusting a source and have to figure it out on your own.
a certified ceicerone, bjcp judge, professional brewer, lab work/yeast labs/counting cells etc…[/quote]
Classic brewing texts are very reliable sources of information.
Figuring things out on your own isn’t very difficult, you would be lead to believe otherwise to promote other’s agenda.
Homebrewing texts guide you in the right direction, but may not always be technically accurate, though there are very technical homebrewing texts, like ‘Water’.
I view it as someone teaching me things I already know or can easily figure out. Boring.
I could invest that money in more brewing supplies or equipment, better yet, the stock market isn’t too shabby at the moment.
Too each their own, friend. If that class motivates you, sign up for it and let us know if you got your moneys worth for a ‘Craft Beer Certification’.
[quote=“ManfredBenson1st”][quote=“grainbelt”]wow…
You do not know good advice when you are reading a book or reading a forum you are trusting a source and have to figure it out on your own.
a certified ceicerone, bjcp judge, professional brewer, lab work/yeast labs/counting cells etc…[/quote]
Classic brewing texts are very reliable sources of information.
Figuring things out on your own isn’t very difficult, you would be lead to believe otherwise to promote other’s agenda.
Homebrewing texts guide you in the right direction, but may not always be technically accurate, though there are very technical homebrewing texts, like ‘Water’.
I view it as someone teaching me things I already know or can easily figure out. Boring.
I could invest that money in more brewing supplies or equipment, better yet, the stock market isn’t too shabby at the moment.
Too each their own, friend. If that class motivates you, sign up for it and let us know if you got your moneys worth for a ‘Craft Beer Certification’.[/quote]
thanks for the laugh
I’ll be laughing all the way to the bank, and I’ll be laughing at your brand new ‘Craft Beer Certificate’ :lol:
I’ll be laughing all the way to the bank, and I’ll be laughing at your brand new ‘Craft Beer Certificate’ :lol: [/quote]
oh im taking the class? thanks for letting me know.
Craft beer certificate, let me know where I made that term up?
jesus you hear what you want to huh…
I’ll be laughing all the way to the bank, and I’ll be laughing at your brand new ‘Craft Beer Certificate’ :lol: [/quote]
oh im taking the class? thanks for letting me know.
Craft beer certificate, let me know where I made that term up?
jesus you hear what you want to huh…[/quote]
You didn’t make it up. Madison Area Technical College did… 'These courses can be taken as part of the ‘Craft Brewing Certificate’.
Guy #1: I’m a homebrewer.
Guy #2: Me too but I’ve a got a ‘Craft Brewing Certificate’!
Guy #1: You want a medal for that?
:lol:
[quote]
You didn’t make it up. Madison Area Technical College did… 'These courses can be taken as part of the ‘Craft Brewing Certificate’.
Guy #1: I’m a homebrewer.
Guy #2: Me too but I’ve a got a ‘Craft Brewing Certificate’!
Guy #1: You want a medal for that?
:lol: [/quote]
:roll:
I’m confused as to what your beef is with, the fact that there IS a course in brewing, or that there is a designation they give after taking it? Or both?
I am by default weary of educational institutions, because tenured profs, exorbitant tuitions and the like are a big problem in our system, but I don’t really understand an objection to a TECHNICAL school offering a course in something that is indeed, quite technical. But yes, the school is going to charge for it, as they have to have someone to teach the class, keep the lights on, pay the janitor, insurance and all the other expenses associated with running a business. Oh yeah, and they like to make money just like you with the not too shabby stock market.
I am personally a visual learner, and will learn way more by brewing with someone, or in a classroom setting than reading the material in a book. Further, I think offering this type of content through an established institution may automatically give it some credibility to some that are equally weary of a “Learn to Homebrew!” Day at an industrial park-based LHBS.
With respect to your point on internet forums, there is some good information out there, but as with other things on the internet, there is also a lot of HORRIBLE information out there. I grant you yes, the credibility of the instructors should be vetted by anyone taking the course, but that holds true with any educational product…or any product at all for that matter (?)
Bottom line, if it gets more people interested in the subject and promotes ACCURATE beer/brewing knowledge, then its a good thing. If there is not demand for it, the school and the partner will stop offering it. I suspect, however, that there will be demand for it, especially in a beer town like Madison.
There’s much more wrong with the schools than that… falsified placement statistics, cheating, etc… but that’s beside the point.
Expending money to get a meaningless piece of paper ‘Craft Brewing Certification’ - for a hobby for which people have succeeded just fine without formal classes, is just plain foolish.
Should they now also offer ‘Model Aircraft Construction Certification?’
Are these credits going to count @ UC Davis towards a real brewing degree? Probably not.
It’s bad enough that people have names, appending false labels to those names just adds to the problem.
There are plenty of fraudulent educational institutions running around loose, and plenty of poor teachers. There are more institutions and teachers that are working their asses off trying to help people learn.
It’s hard to tell which camp this course falls into, but please don’t condemn the entire education community because of the current popularity of labeling the American education system as a failure.
I taught vocational education (Cisco networking, Microsoft systems, and general PC maintenance for 15 years (after 20 years in the Air Force) and I did not get rich. I now get about $400/month in retirement pay for my effort.
Not all my students are wildly successful, but back in 2006, one was offered $65,000 per year directly out of high school. In 2080 another made $19 per hour directly out of college. Another has authored books on Microsoft network systems.
So, having vented a bit: Maybe we need someone to look into this course and let us know whether it’s valid before condemning it.
