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About the Beer Academy -by Rupert Ponsonby
Rupert Ponsonby is one of the original founders of the Beer Academy, and also owns the company that manages our PR. Here is what he had to say about the reasons behind setting up the Beer Academy....
What does wine have that beer doesn’t?
The answer is the WSET, or the Wine and Spirit Education Trust, an organisation which has done more to de-mystify the word ‘wine’ and bring new wine drinkers into the fold, than any other body.
So what about ‘education’ for beer? Answer, to quote my school reports: “Could do better”.
Yes, many have done their bit, including brewers, The British Institute of Innkeeping, Brewing Research International, Heriot Watt University and The Institute and Guild of Brewing to name but a few. But generic beer education has so far eluded us.
So there’s been no Beer Education Trust until now; no generic consumer-facing bodies for beer (cask ale-focused CAMRA excepted); few dedicated off trade beer tastings; and almost nobody holding meet-the-brewer dinners, despite the fact that almost all of our brewers speak impeccable English.
When you also consider that we have few grape growers, but acre upon acre of maritime barley and cannabis-related hops providing regional employment and national wealth, we look even madder.
Did Queen Boadicea waste her energy in her conversion of the visiting Romans to beer, only to have her descendants allow the grape and its myriad educators to trample smooth-shoed over England’s Green and Pleasant Land?
These were the thoughts that bubbled aloft as Mark Dorber, legendary host of the White Horse pub on London's Parson's Green, Rupert Thompson of Refresh, beer lecturers Tim O'Rourke and Roger Putman and I sat down last winter to review our intentions for the year. Over a glass of John Willy Lees Harvest Ale 2002, that excellent 11.5% abv match for mature cheese, we decided to act.
We would run an exploratory beer and brewing course in the summer aimed at all sectors of the Trade to gauge demand for ‘beer education’. And if that proved positive, we would seek the buy-in of Britain’s brewers, beer retailers and beer related bodies to create a generic educational service for beer:
- Its model? The Wine and Spirit Education Trust, and we are lucky enough to have had their whole-hearted advice and support
- Its target? On-trade and off, reaching out to supermarket and off trade buyers, off licence managers and staff, bartenders, publicans, restaurateurs, journalists and consumers.
- Its venues? Breweries, pubs, bars, clubs, offices and halls all over Britain.
- Its lecturers? These will be drawn initially on the services of current and recently retired brewers.
The Beer Academy’s first course, which ran in the summer of 2003, was attended by 25 'students' from both on and off trades and included beer buyers from Sainsbury and Safeway, as well as representatives of Unwins, Coors, Interbrew, CAMRA, Searcy's and Scotco Retail. Although the courses were open to all, it was noticeable that the main takers were from the off trade, with a high level of interest from trade and consumer journalists.
The 12 hours of lectures, spread over several days, included colourful presentations on beer’s history, its ingredients, brewing processes, beer styles and their packaging. It also covered the art of tasting, how to assess off-flavours, the contributions of hops, barley, water and yeast to beer’s taste, with sessions on beer and food matching and a trip around Youngs Brewery. Eight or more beers were sampled on each day.
Positive feedback from the course led to the creation of three new course formats:
These courses were put through their paces between then and earley 2004 to refine them before their formal launch in April 2004. The two longer courses both have exams, certification for which is currently being sought.
Initial finance for the set-up of the first course was provided by brand-developer, Refresh UK, whose Chief Executive, Rupert Thompson, is a founder both of the Beer Academy and of Cask Marque, the brewers’ on-trade quality initiative.
As to future finance, as there is not at present any generic marketing body for beer, it was decided to seek sponsorship from every brewing, brewing-related and beer retailing Company in Britain.
So far, of the biggest brewers, five have already agreed to act as Gold Sponsors (£15,000), whilst several regional breweries and Industry bodies such as Adnams, Budweiser Budvar, Charles Wells, Fullers, Greene King, Youngs and the British Institute of Innkeeping have agreed to join as Silver Sponsors (£5,000) and many smaller brewers and Industry bodies as Bronze Sponsers (£2,000). Sponsors are given 15% off the costs of course places in their first year.
Beer is a wildly sensuous brew, but most drinkers fail to appreciate the massive range of colours, styles, flavours, textures, carbonations and abvs now available in Britain.
This is something the Beer Academy is determined to help change.
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