Alex Blencowe/Staff Writer
Paige Wuensch, a hospitality and tourism management graduate student and B.R.E.W FIU member, said she did not start off as a big beer fan.
However, things changed after she took the beer class offered as an elective at the Chaplin School of Hospitality and Tourism Management.
“One thing led to another, and the next thing I knew I was making my own [beer],” she said. “And I haven’t looked back.”
With the new Beer Science Lab—a state of the art brewing laboratory to accompany the recently constructed Restaurant Management Lab, the University is extending the culture of craft brewery in Miami.
On Thursday, April 3, the CSHTM celebrated the official opening of the Beer Science Lab with nearly a hundred guests, which included beer connoisseurs, FIU alumni and innovators from Gold Coast Beverage Distributors, to tour the new lab and sample food and beer.
“I had students who said, ‘We’re done with your class, but we want to continue to make beer,’ So we started a beer club, and that’s how B.R.E.W FIU began,” said Barry Gump, eminent scholar of Beverage Management at CSHTM.
Gump introduced the guest of honor: brewmaster of The Brooklyn Brewery, Garrett Oliver.
Oliver says the culture of craft beer is becoming more apparent in New York and, especially, in Miami; the culture is growing still, he said.
For Oliver, discovering the spoils of crafted beers in England inspired him to start making craft beers in the U.S. after he returned.
“I started making craft beer not because I wanted beer, but so I could have real beer, and that’s when I fell in love with it,” Oliver said.
John Boegel, national chain sales manager of The Brooklyn Brewery, said he is thrilled to see the burgeoning industry become a reality.
“We’ve come a long way and it’s a pretty big undertaking,” he said.
For Mahmud Shihadeh, marketing director of “Downstairs” convenience stores and University alum who studied business administration and marketing, the business of craft beer is evolving every day.
“We started noticing that the craft industry was expanding,” said Shihadeh. “What’s been happening is that people can now just buy one or two craft beers, so if you don’t like it, you don’t have to get a six-pack.”
Shihadeh says the craft beer culture is growing, and although there is a certain loyalty among beer drinkers, a lot of people are more willing to try something new.
“I’m really surprised with what’s been happening at Chaplin,” said Lisa Palazzo, regional sales manager of Riedel Wine Glass Company. Spieglau glasses from the Riedel Wine Glass Company were used for the dinner, because the glasses are uniquely crafted to enhance the flavor and aroma of the drinks they contain.
Palazzo said she was impressed by the students’ innovation with this beer lab.
“Beer science is a natural extension and I think it’s the next place they need to be in the food and beverage industry,” she said.
“Ambeersador” of The Lagunitas Brewing Company, Joe Reyes, said he has seen the jump in the craft beer industry and is working on opening three new craft beer stores.
“When I started working, I found that I really liked the culture,” Reyes said. “Every brewery has a type of culture and you have to find the one that fits for you.”
Oliver agrees, and sees the huge potential that lies in the craft industry for students of B.R.E.W FIU.
“What’s wonderful is that people have an opportunity to fall in love with what they’re doing earlier in life, and can pursue that in a career,” Oliver said.
-bbc@fiusm.com