How Does It Work?

These modern and convenient distance education programs use streaming video, textbooks, extensive written materials, and the Guild’s proprietary website created exclusively for and accessible only by students in the Guild’s diploma programs. Unlike traditional correspondence programs, the Guild programs are built on years of experience working with on-site students and make extensive use of video and the web to provide ongoing and timely support for the course. This support on the web includes: on-line updates and support material, message boards for instructor-to-student and student-to-student discussions, streaming video, weekly reviews and quizzes, and much more as technology allows! The unique combination offers students the most comprehensive learning experience of this type in the nation.

The correspondence diploma programs combine lectures and instruction in brewing science and engineering with practical information and advice for the craft brewing professional. Topics include: raw materials, malting biochemistry, malt storage and milling, mash technology and biochemistry, a variety of practical brewery engineering issues and problems, hops, wort boiling, fermentation technology and biochemistry, beer maturation and clarification, beer formulation, dispense and much, much more.

Weeks 1-22 (IBS&E and CBA)

  At your home or brewery you will watch 6-10 hours of taped lecture weekly, read course texts and supplemental material, and log on to the website for information, updates, and informative discussion.

Week 23 (IBS&E and CBA)

  The last week of the Intensive Brewing Science and Engineering Program and Craftbrewer’,s Apprenticeship program is spent in the Guild’s brewery, brewing laboratory, and classrooms. The student will perform the hands-on brewing and laboratory work, receive sensory training, participate in a comprehensive review session, and take their final examination.

Weeks 24-28 (CBA)

  Students who continue with the Craftbrewer’s Apprenticeship Program will then begin a 5-week internship at a Guild-approved brewery. The apprenticeship can be done at one of the Guild’s local mentor sites or in your home state.

Who should attend?

The programs are perfectly suited to the working professional brewer or the candidate who is serious about making a career transition to professional brewing. The programs allow a dedicated individual the option of working at their regular job as brewer or other profession, while engaging in the correspondence program. Students should allow 12-15 hours per week for course study. This time includes 6-10 hours of recorded lecture, reading, interaction via the web, study, and problem solving.

We encourage brewers to approach their employers for assistance with this work-friendly program. Employers may contribute to tuition, computer support, Internet accounts, etc.

Distance Education students receive the following:

 

  • All brewing texts

  • Weekly streaming lectures from the Guild’s respected brewing faculty

      As you know, most courses delivered via the world-wide-web consist strictly of reading materials sent to the student, discussing them via the web and taking examinations at the end of the course. The Guild’s Diploma course uses 50 streaming lectures in the CBA/IBS&E diploma courses and they represent over 150 hours of classroom lecture material on brewing chemistry, microbiology, and engineering. These valuable lectures are an integral part of the learning process and a tremendous asset to the student of brewing. All these materials and the website serve to enhance the learning experience for the off-site student.