Ten years ago I caught the homebrewing bug after attending an afternoon demonstration at the local homebrew supplystore here in Santa Cruz, California. A small clutch of us gathered around a modest brew rig, asking simple questions and taking in the aroma of malt and hops. 
   
Soon after, I bought a beginner’s kit and the basic equipment to brew up an extract batch of beer. I haven’t stopped brewing since, expanding on my knowledge and abilities from one batch to the next. Most of what I’ve learned over the subsequent years has come from getting involved in my local homebrew club, the Zymurgeeks, reading lots of brewing literature, participating in online forums and diligently practicing.
    
A couple of years ago it occurred to me what a benefit it had been to get introduced to this great hobby in such a hands-on way, and that others, like myself, could benefit from the structure of a hands-on classroom environment so that they could learn as I had. I noticed a gap between schools for the professional brewer, such as Siebel Institute and UC-Davis, and the occasional local store homebrew demonstrations. It seemed like the community (and the average brewer) would be well served by a narrowing of this gap, and my knowledge and passion for homebrewing, I hoped, could provide just that.
   
Based on this lofty plan, I developed a curriculum for a comprehensive yet practical five-day course
for teaching homebrewing. I worked it out so that the lessons could be offered through community college extension classes.               
Once my idea was developed, I mailed out application letters with my proposal to half a dozen nearby schools, and, low and behold, Cabrillo College in nearby Soquel showed some interest. At first Cabrillo worried about filling seats, but the class soon filled with eager students and I scheduled the first series.
   
Lessons are designed to be cumulative, taking the students from the basics of brewing with dried malt extract and steeping grains on through the more advanced knowledge of partial mash brewing and brewing 10-gallon (38-L), all-grain batches. All participants get the chance to have hands-on experience with the equipment and materials used in brewing, chilling, fermenting, bottling and kegging, along with the more academic calculations and tests for efficiencies, attenuation, alcohol content, etc. In addition, consideration of the malt bill, hop utilization and yeast selection for developing recipes beyond introductory brewing kits is discussed.
   
As a class we also sample beer styles — both homebrew and commercial examples — with an emphasis on sensory evaluation techniques. And on the fifth and final day of class the students bring in food to pair with three of the four beers that they brewed in class.
    
I have been teaching this class for three years now and it continues to be popular and well received. I believe that this is in part due to the fact that the class gives them an opportunity to directly experience the brewing process, a chance to test the wort, so to speak, without an initial commitment to the hobby.
   
Many students continue with the hobby and become actively involved in the local brewing community, and I feel proud to be able to offer this class through an organization that recognizes the value of homebrewing. And hopefully my experience will inspire other homebrewers to teach students about brewing in their
own hometowns!
   
For more information on Mark or his classes please visit: www.backyardbrewer.blogspot.com