The Beer Academy

The Beer Academy offers courses all around the country. In the interests of research, and a fun day out, Jeannette and I attended the Foundation course at the White Horse, Parsons Green, London.

The venue was very good - we were amazed by the amount of work done by the assistants who bustled around providing myriads of clean glasses and all the food samples.  As we had to leave home very early to get there (by train/Tube) we were the first to arrive but were welcomed very nicely with a coffee in the bar.  There was slight disorganisation over the provision of lunch so we were downstairs in the bar for a while before the food came; however that gave us the chance to try the White Horse's amazing selection of beers and the sandwiches when they arrived were fine.

There was a good mix of students.  We were the only ones not from some branch of the trade, but the range of backgrounds made discussions very interesting.  There was a lot of material to get through in the time but the lecturer was very enthusiastic, put across his material well, had very good slides, and the course folders we were given were superb - very informative and very nicely produced.  Good representative selection of beers (13) to taste and having foods to match with them added an extra dimension.  Perhaps the best for us was being able to nibble a wide range of different malt samples and sniff various hop aromas, something we would not normally have access to.

In the afternoon you can take a short multiple-choice test, and be awarded a certificate if successful. Tip - pay careful attention to the slides in the presentation!

All in all, we found it a very worthwhile day, and we are looking forward to the launch of the 3-day Beer Academy courses.  We would heartily recommend it - you can always learn something new, and this is an enjoyable way to do it.  Details on www.beeracademy.org