Recently I started studying brewing science and technology with the Siebel Institute. Honestly American Brewers Guild was my first choice  I really liked the idea that they set you up with an apprenticeship but classes were filled so far in advance I could not have begun until 2014 and I wanted to get a start on my brewing education so I could enter the industry as soon as possible. That being said Siebel has the benefit of being Americas oldest brewing school and working with Dommens in Germany as well as the World Brewing Academy.

Siebel has a series of 3 modules (or classes) that make up the associates program in brewing science and technology (raw materials and wort production, beer production and quality control, finally packaging and process technology). The entire program can be completed at the Siebel campus in Chicago or online (online classes last 3 months each).


I chose to take an additional introductory class called the concise course in brewing technology.  It covers the basics of the material from all the other classes. This is ideal for me because I'm currently working on my scientific background at SUNY Albany. The online classes are a combination of reading materials video/audio presentations as well as weekly online chats. The reading materials (and extras) are very thorough but generally the videos are presented by Germans from the Dommens academy and are sometimes a bit hard to understand. The weekly chats are probably the best educational tool and I wish there were more of them, The instructor facilitates a discussion of the topics covered in the previous weeks and answers any questions anybody may have. Additionally at the end of each module there are a series of short answer questions that must be answered and graded by the instructor, the questions are not always easy (a lot of them are) but not hard either. The instructor always provides good feedback on the answers.

In summary I feel the course is good and I am learning quite a bit, I would like to see more discussions but that could be hard to facilitate. My instructor is great he has proven to be very accessible and answers my questions very quickly. He was even kind enough to issue me a letter of introduction to help me in my search for an entry level brewing position.

In an effort to advance my tasting skills in order to take the cicerone exam I picked up a few books that I figured could help me.
Tasting Beer was an enjoyable read The beginning follows the same pattern any beer book does it follows the history of beer in 20 or so pages going from the ancient Sumerians & ancient Egyptians to the modern brewing industry, stopping to talk about porters in England along the way. Still Tasting Beer is more than just a general beer book.
The second chapter starts the tasting portion sensory evaluation, judging tips, presentation of beer, pairing beer with food. This is the portion of the book thats most useful. Tasting beer can be a difficult subject to broach in print but The book gives you a method to efficiently communicate whats going on in your glass and mouth. The book discusses some of the common flavors found in beers (intentional and off flavors) mouthfeel, carbonation, and how the brewing ingredients and process effect the final product. The book has several charts showing the differences in color, alcohol, and bitterness relative to styles.
The last half of the book is a discussion of styles. They are separated by country of origin and go briefly into the history of the given styles. This part was a bit tedious at times (reading about 15 styles and their original gravities/ IBU's can be boring at times) as it reads somewhat like a list.
Randy Mosher is part of the faculty at the sibel institute, he teaches courses in sensory panel management among otheres. He is a well respected author and lecturer in the beer world.
Overall i really enjoyed the book. I feel it started me on the road to really tasting and evaluating beer rather than just drinking it, however, reading a book is no substitute for experience when it comes to tasting and judging beer but thats the fun part. This book comes highly recommended