Modist Education Director Paige Latham will again be hosting her Beer Smarts class at the brewery beginning on March 6th. The six-week course will cover water, grains, hops, fermentation, evaluating beer, food and beer pairing, and the popular optional 7th session which is a beer dinner with chef Ian Gray from The Curious Goat and The Smoking Cow. Tickets for the optional four course dinner will cost $50 and the seats are limited.

I had the opportunity to sit in on one of these sessions and I was very impressed. Paige is very knowledgeable and is the perfect person to teach such a class. She’s the woman behind the blog Alcohol by Volume and is the beer expert at Heavy Table. She also worked at The Four Firkins in St. Louis Park where she became a Cicerone Certified Beer Server.

Tickets for the six sessions are on sale for $60 and you can find them here. See the schedule below:

Session 1: Beer History and Water (3/6/17)

• Intro to course
• History of brewing
• Properties of water
• Ratio of grain to water / “gravity”
• Beers famous for water reasons

Session 2: Grains and malting (3/13/17)

• Focus on malted grain / barley
• German Purity Law
• Other sources of sugar (candied sugar, lactose)
• What happens when water meets grain
• Beers famous for grain reasons
• Mini brewery tour!

Session 3: Hops (3/20/17)

• Hops – what they are, how they’re grown, and where they’re grown
• From the filter to the boil kettle
• Hop additions and other additives

Session 4: Fermentation (3/27/17)

• Historical significance of yeast as magic / God / luck
• Classification of yeast
• An overview of fermentation
• Significant yeast strains through history and by style
• Other methods of fermentation
• The bright tank (forced carbonation vs natural)

Session 5: Evaluating Beer (4/10/17)

• Packaging beer
• Beer service (cleanliness/glassware)
• Beer expiration
• Critical evaluation and tasting
• How to improve your palate
• Good beer gone bad: off flavor training

Session 6: Food and Beer Pairing (4/24/17)

• Why pair beer with food?
• Pairing with beer vs wine
• Basic taste elements
• Congruent vs complementary food and beer pairing
• Pairing tips and tricks