Beer Appreciation: George Brown College

I am currently taking a part time college course in Beer Appreciation held at Toronto's George Brown College. I have completed some other beer courses in the past, but I am looking forward to this as we will focus a little more on craft beers.

Ron Keefe, the owner and brewmaster of the Granite Brewery on Eglinton Street in Toronto, is the instructor for the course and he plans on educating the nine students on the history of beer, the different styles, how to match beer with food and most importantly - how to taste beer.

Some of the students have no experience when it comes to beer which should make it an interesting course for them. Hopefully they will gain a better understanding of the beer industry and beer in general, to help with future decisions at the beer store.

In the first class, after introductions, Ron discussed the history of beer and the theory of how beer came to be. We talked about the differences between Ales and Lagers and the different ingredients that are found in beers. We were shown different hop pellets and various malt profiles, which made a good visual stimulate.

Near the end of the three hour session, Ron removed some beer from the fridge and we went about tasting. We sampled Mill Street Coffee Porter, Mill Street Tankhouse, Creemore Lager, Brooklyn Lager, Sgt. Major IPA, St.Ambroise Pale Ale, Black Oak Nut Brown, Walkerville Lager, and Saint Vienna Lager. We were shown how to sample and how to rate the beer through aroma, body, taste and appearance. Me, being a hop lover, thought that the Sgt. Major and Mill Street's Tankhouse were winners. The line-up was a little different to some of the participants as they have never tried these beers before and were not used to the hoppiness of some.

It was an excellent start to what sounds like an excellent course. I look forward to watching some of the beer hunter videos that recently deceased Micheal Jackson was responsible for. I will keep you posted.

No class next week as Thanksgiving calls. So make sure to grab some Pumpkin Ale to savour with your pumpkin pie.

Cheers