My Day At The Vlb

[Whistlingjack]

The first day.

Introduction to the course.

First lecture...Barley(varieties, quality, supply) Only scratched the surface here.

Next up...brewery arithmetics. Can you calculate the volume of a cylindroconical vessel?

In the afternoon...technical aspects of malting. How much active water is allowed in the grain during storage (dormancy)? What is the angle of repose for malted barley?

After the day was done...free beer and a feed.

Of course you are only going to get snippets of info here. There is so much more content...

Stay tuned for more instalments...

 

[blackbock]

Wow WJ,

I am totally green with envy! Which course are you undertaking and how long does it go for?

(I am assuming that the VLB you are is the Versuch- und Lehranstalt fr Brauerei (Brewing) and NOT the Verzeichnis Lieferbarer Bcher (Librarians)!)

;-)

 

[Whistlingjack]

Just started the five month course.

Its quite intense, so far but the lecturers are very good and the subject matter is easy to follow.

And, yes it is the Versuchs- und Lehranstalt Fr Brauerei course... :super:

 

[Whistlingjack]

Just as an afterthought...

I got a copy of Technology Brewing and Malting by Wolfgang Kunze signed by the author... :beerbang:

 

[pint of lager]

Looking forward to more instalments.

I hope you have access to the net every night during your course.

 

[Finite]

awesome mate, keep us updated...

 

[Whistlingjack]

Day Two

More on barley and malting. How can you tell if the barley is suitable for malting? Why is the grain with the thin, wrinkled husk better?

Chemistry. Basic elements, molecules and compounds. Gonna have to work on this one. The important stuff is looming...

Water. Just an introduction today. We'll go into intricate details of water chemistry, treatment, brewery requirements and waste water.

Energy. How much energy do you need to bring 100hl of wort from 70C to 100C? What is the expected temperature loss through convection in a steam heated stainless steel mash tun?

Checked out the 200litre pilot brewery at lunch today. Very nice. More on this later.

To be continued...

 

[Whistlingjack]

Days Three and Four

Microbiology. Theory and practical work. Looked at various organisms and granular material. The saccharomyces yeast is the same size as a human red blood cell.

After lunch we went on a tour of the Brauhaus Mitte. Free beer and a feed of schweinehaxen, sauerkraut and potatoes. More free beer.

This is why I couldn't get to my PC last night.

Today, feeling a little seedy but got down to an introduction to Chemical-technical analysis.

Followed by more lectures on malting technology and the biochemistry of malting. Name five amino acids present in barley malt.

Then into a lecture on hops. What is the total alpha acid deficit for the 2006 hop harvest?

Process control engineering. Automation of the brewery

After lunch, a lecture from the CEO of Warsteiner brewery group. Interesting guy presenting management principles and ideas.

No beer today

 

[Zwickel]

gday brewing mates,

its a very nice report WJ, keep on telling us...

if someone likes to know more about the location: http://www.vlb-berlin.org/cms/front_conten...mp;changelang=2

Cheers WJ, Ill meet you in Berlin soon

 

[Whistlingjack]

Day Five (where did that week go??)

A half day today spent in the laboratory. We used acid and alkali bases and indicators to determine levels of calcium and magnesium present in samples of brewing water.

Took a bit of trial and error and the help of the tutors, but I eventually got my head around it.

Look forward to seeing you again, Zwickel. You may be happy to learn that we have found an apartment in Tiergarten, only 1.5km from the VLB.

 

[Whistlingjack]

No school today, but I thought I'd introduce one of my classmates.

He is from Latvia and has never seen Australia or tasted our swill. Check out what he's wearing!

 

[Doc]

Hey WJ,

Awesome to hear you getting into the course.
I'm guessing you are doing this one:

Certified Brewmaster Course
This training course for prospective brewers starts every year in Januars in Berlin. All lessons are held entirely in English. The course provides the basic knowledge for the technical management of a brewery. The total duration is 5 months including a lot of practical work in our laboratories.

And that is a mean trick to play on your classmate

Keep the posts coming, and I'd love to see pictures of the pilot plant when you get on it.

Beers,
Doc

 

[Whistlingjack]

Thanks, Doc

I am doing the five-month course.

And I did get my classmate's permission to post his photo. He was really amused when I described the beer to him.

"What method of filtration? Cat's kidneys? Really?" :blink:

 

[tangent]

this is awesome, please keep posting if you have time.
(more photos, more photos)

 

[Whistlingjack]

Hello fellow brewers.

My posts will be a little sporadic for a while. I moved into a new apartment and I'm waiting for the internet to be connected. I can only get online at the institute, in between study.

Anyway, this week it seems we are down to business. The material is becoming more in-depth. The subjects are starting to overlap and processes are becoming more clear.

We have learned how to balance chemical equations and how to calculate the weight of molecules, how the enzymes act on glucose molecules in the malting process, the intricacies of hop oils and resins and much, much more.

Tomorrow is another day in the lab playing with densitometers and pycnometers.

The beer of course is still flowing cheaply and we now have some time at lunch breaks to sample the local brews. :chug:

 

[Zwickel]

Hi WJ,
will you still be in Berlin at this time: http://www.bierfestival-berlin.de/index.php?idcat=4 ???


Cheers mate :beer:

 

[tangent]

oh man, that looks awesome Zwickel. Do you go every year?

WJ, can you describe any prominent beers you've tasted?

 

[Zwickel]

oh man, that looks awesome Zwickel. Do you go every year?

No tangent, this year will be the first time, that Im planning to go there.
People say, its even better than the oktober fest in Munich.

btw: here some informations in english: http://www.berliner-bierfestival.de/index.php?idcat=24

Sorry, WJ, I dont want to hijack your thread.

Cheers

 

[Whistlingjack]

No worries, Zwickel.

I'm not sure if we'll be here then. Depends where the job offers are. Might be worth a trip back here though... :beerbang:

This weekend we went to Green Week at the Berlin ICC. One word...WOW!!!

Hundreds of stalls from all over the world (including Australia), selling food, beer, everything. It runs all this week and the VLB took us there and, you guessed it, more free beer. The size of the place was overwhelming and you'd need three weeks to see it all.

I can't post any pics at the institute, but when I get the internet at home I will.

Classes await...malting technology, brewery arithmetics, economics, chemistry and malting equipment. Mondays are getting very heavy...

 

[Simon W]

I am very very very jealous. I've wanted to do what your doing for years, but finances do not allow. Spewin' the ECU course(a poor consolation) is now 1Y full-time and post-grad entry

If you've never been, and you get the time, I highly recommend getting on the DB to Munich!!!
Oh, and Aying is very nice, the town, the people, the pub and the brewery, not far out of Munich.