Brewlabs Courses

[markp]

I've been looking at the array of courses that are being offered by Brewlabs in Sunderland.
Has anyone here ever been on any of them; and if so, what did you think??

I'd love to be in a position to do the 3 month diploma, and I may well do this at some point in the future depending on how life works out.
What is interesting me most at the moment is the 3 day 'Start Up Brewing' course and the 4 day course on 'Skill Develpoment for Production Personnel'.

Just wondered if anyone has any first hand experience of these?

TIA :thumb:

 

[Aleman]

Brewlab used to do some great courses aimed at the home/craft brewer . . . unfortunately they have dropped them as too few brewers used to attend . . . so the commercial courses are the only ones going. . . . I'd love to have a chat with Keith Thomas and see if we could get one reinstated every year . . . It was on one of those that I got my old brewery 'calibrated' for hop utilisation vs Tinseths Prediction . . . . . And David Edge discovered the extra utilisation you get from switch off hops . . . and came up with the 70/80C steep. . . . So yes they are good . . . Start Up Brewing is aimed at those moving to a brewing for retail and covers a lot of stuff that as home brewers you don't need to know. . . . Skill Development for Production Personnel is Just that, a training course for people working in breweries, that don't have their own training programs in place.

 

[markp]

Thanks for your post Aleman.
Yes; I agree that they are above and beyond what the homebrewer needs, but I have a long term goal/pipedream (delete as applicable :grin: ) and I think that they would certainly help with this and improve my homebrewing in the interim.

It would be great if the homebrewers courses were to become available again....I guess they would be a lot cheaper as the cost of the Brewlab courses is not an insignificant consideration.

Thanks again.

 

[Aleman]

The 4 day Home/craft brewer course was around 800 quid . . . So not really cheap . . . adn there are not enough of us :ugeek: :ugeek: to warrant running it unless it was full

 

[markp]

The 4 day Home/craft brewer course was around 800 quid . . . So not really cheap . . . adn there are not enough of us :ugeek: :ugeek: to warrant running it unless it was full

Not cheap.....but a fair chunk less than the £1300 I'm likely to part with for the 4 day course :shock:

 

[beer taster]

A friend of mine was looking into starting a micro a few years ago and attended the 3 week course - kept sending me pictures of the class room, full of beer bottles at 9:30 in the morning, tasting sessions apparently. Looked like an excuse for a P*** up to me. He was very pleased with the course, although he decided not to start a brewery due to the economic climate.

 

[thedrayman]

I attended the Brewlab 'Start Up Brewing' Course in December 1999. I always wanted to know more about Commercial Brewing after 20+ (then) years of being a Home-Brewer, so I spoilt myself and made a booking. It was expensive then (around £300 for a two-day course, plus cost of rail travel and B & B) but I thoroughly-enjoyed it. Some 'scary' sections of the course included selecting the right premises, contacting the right authorities, and the Customs and Excise record keeping requirements. Interesting parts where the recipe formulation, yeast management and (naturally) how to 'beer-taste' correctly. The course didn't put-me-off the idea of starting-up a commercial brewery and it still remains a goal I'd like to achieve but, in-the-meantime, I'll still keep on Craft-Brewing from the kitchen, and reading all the good hints-and-tips in the Home Brew Forum.

 

[markp]

I attended the Brewlab 'Start Up Brewing' Course in December 1999. I always wanted to know more about Commercial Brewing after 20+ (then) years of being a Home-Brewer, so I spoilt myself and made a booking. It was expensive then (around £300 for a two-day course, plus cost of rail travel and B & B) but I thoroughly-enjoyed it. Some 'scary' sections of the course included selecting the right premises, contacting the right authorities, and the Customs and Excise record keeping requirements. Interesting parts where the recipe formulation, yeast management and (naturally) how to 'beer-taste' correctly. The course didn't put-me-off the idea of starting-up a commercial brewery and it still remains a goal I'd like to achieve but, in-the-meantime, I'll still keep on Craft-Brewing from the kitchen, and reading all the good hints-and-tips in the Home Brew Forum.

Thanks for your reply, just the sort of opinion I wanted. Thanks.