Oskar Blues Partners With Blue Ridge Community College for Brew School

BREVARD, NC – Oskar Blues and Blue Ridge Community College are collaborating on a course that will provide students with hands-on brewing training starting in January 2013.

Oskar Blues Brew School will alternate between the College’s Transylvania County Campus and the new Oskar Blues Brewery, both in Brevard, NC.

“We are thrilled to be working with Blue Ridge Community College on the Oskar Blues Brew School,” says Noah Tuttle, head brewer of the Brevard Oskar Blues Brewery. “This program will allow students to get the strong education and hands-on training they need to help them pursue careers in an incredibly fast growing industry.”

Gabe Mixson, the primary instructor, holds a master’s degree in microbial biotechnology and has training and experience in the area of industrial fermentation processes including commercial beer brewing.

Oskar Blues will provide regular guest speakers in addition to on-site training. Speakers will cover topics ranging from brewing to marketing to sales. Toward the end of the course, students will develop and brew a beer on Oskar Blues’ pilot system, which will be served in the brewery taproom.

At the completion of the course, students will be ready to take the General International Beer and Distribution Certification exam, an internationally recognized exam offered at centers throughout the U.S. by the United Kingdom’s Institute of Brewing and Distilling. Blue Ridge Community College will become an IBD examination center.

Blue Ridge College recently launched its North Carolina Back-to-Work program that offers scholarships to those who’ve been unemployed for 26 weeks or longer. The Back-to-Work program can cover both the cost of the course and the cost of sitting the IBD exam for eligible Brew School students. Registration for the course opens on December 3. The course will cost $175, and will be limited to 20 students. Students must be 21 years or older to enroll in the Oskar Blues Brew School. The course will begin in January and run for 16 weeks.

“This class is unique, given the mix of hands-on and classroom experience,” says Ben Kish, workforce training development director at Blue Ridge Community College. “Plus, it’s affordable.”

For information about enrolling in the Oskar Blues Brew School, contact Ben Kish at Blue Ridge Community College, (828) 694-1751 or [email protected]. For information about Oskar Blues Brevard Brewery, contact Anne Fitten Glenn at Oskar Blues, (828) 230-1662 or [email protected].

Oskar Blues’ Brevard brewery is slated to open New Year’s Eve 2012. The brewery will produce 40,000 barrels of super-fresh beer in 2013.