Hospitality School Breaks Through With FIU Brew
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – There is something brewing up at the FIU Chaplin School of Hospitality's North Miami Campus, literally.
The college is brewing their own beer, namely FIU Brew, in the newly opened Brew Science Laboratory.
Dr. Barry Gump is the Professor of Beverage Management at the school and head of the Brew Science Program.
In a college atmosphere you can bet kids have lined up to sign up for this class.
We fill the brewing classes every year. We're now teaching two brewing classes a semester," said Dr. Gump.
Matthew Weintraub is a grad student in the brew program and now works at Schnebly Brewery when he's not in school.
"Originally you think about making beer and you want to enjoy it and make it for yourself," said Weintraub. "Dr. Gump taught me how the science works and grew that passion from there."
The Brew Science Program is just that.
Students learn everything from the science of making beer with ingredients like water, barley and hops to the fermentation process and finally carbonation. The bottles are recycled and every student makes their own beer and creates their own labels. Every student also gets a taste test as a part of the research.
"We will taste beer in every class because were exposing different students to different styles of beer and many of them never had anything but a typical America lager," said Dr. Gump.
The new lab is the direct result of fundraising efforts from The South Beach Wine and Food Festival. Yes, all those fancy parties led to a whole new facility at FIU.
"The facility, in fact, all of the support service that we have here in our food and beverage operation comes from South Beach Wine and Food Festival," said Mike Hampton, Dean of The School of Hospitality at FIU. "We're indebted to The Chaplin family for their vision to help create one of most innovate research centers in the world."
For more information on the classes, including a "one night class only" program for non-students visit www. hospitality.fiu.edu
