By Melissa Spady (Contributor) – Email
Print Edition: May 8, 2013
Colorado State University’s student centre plans to be the first to install an on-campus brewery.
Control your in-tandem drooling, college folk, there’s more.
On top of that, a major in fermentation science and technology in the department of Food Science and Human Nutrition has recently been added to the school’s curriculum. Can we just soak up the ramifications of these words for a moment? Potentially endless amounts of delicious beer brewed within walking distance, and the skills, nay, a degree in how to do it yourself. I personally know a handful of people who are kicking themselves for not being born in Colorado right now.
Who isn’t going to get behind an on-campus brewery? It’s frothy, ice cold and brewed in-house.
Aside from beer, fermentation courses include the processing of dairy, wheat, beef, pork, lamb and grapes, and an in-house brewery would be extremely beneficial to the student body. There are plenty of community breweries that house field trips; having the equipment on campus would allow for more hands-on experience to students in the program.
A space is reserved in the recent facelift of the student centre for the brewery to go right next to the campus bar, The Ramskeller. Plans indicate there will be a glass wall between the two rooms to allow viewing of production classes at work. The brewery will be used primarily for training students to craft beer and ferment other foods, but the executive director of the centre, Michael Ellis, isn’t ruling out the possibility of the beer produced being served at the campus bar.
“What could be better than sitting in The Ramskeller, watching brewers at work?” Ellis told Coloradoan.com. “I think it is very unique, and that’s what makes it special.”
Despite the support, academic need, and space reservation, funding for the equipment—around half a million dollars—has yet to be secured.
I’m wondering why we don’t have anything like this in British Columbia. God knows we have the community interest and demand. There are wineries littered all across the Lower Mainland and Okanagan, and Vancouver is home is several microbreweries as well. Yet, there is no such thing as a fermentation science degree in BC. What about the future brewers of Canada? Will they be left to illegally brew moonshine in their bathtubs in order to get real brewing experience? Craft beer is booming right now, and the West Coast is well-known for its hipster credibility by always being at the cutting edge. I think this is a train we ought to hop onto.
I do happen to know a certain university that has plans for a new Student Union Building (SUB) in the works. Perhaps with some gentle prodding, an on-campus brewery could be the newest addition to UFV.
The plans for the SUB building are looking rather dry, wouldn’t you say so, Mr. Potter? Who needs a used bookstore, give me a fountain of endless beer! This plot certainly has nothing to do with the fact that the space in question is conveniently stationed right next to the new Cascade office. Nope, just a happy coincidence.
