My Day At The Vlb

[SpillsMostOfIt]

Is there a way I can stop this thread from appearing on my computer screen?

It is making me cry with envy. B)

 

[Whistlingjack]

Its not all "beer and skittles", Spills...

Today I have to spend a few hours in the lab testing malt and wort. Then I have to take Zwickel on a tour of the brewery. Tedious...

Then, if I'm unlucky, the brewmaster will ask us to help dispose of some excess beer.

WJ

 

[voota]

Thanks, voota...

Are you planning any trips to Berlin?

Maybe we could organise an AHB European Chapter get-together.

WJ

I was in Kiel/Lubeck last week, although money is a bit tight at the moment (my account has taken a battering from beer shopping in Copenhagen) so thats my traveling for a while. I Will be riding from Brussels to Bamberg to Berlin with my girlfriend in May and June so if you are around then we could catch up for a beer... I'd love to hear everything about the course, something like that is definitly on my 'to do' list.

 

[Whistlingjack]

Hey, voota

The class will be in Bamberg at the end of May visiting the Weyermann maltery (among other things) then back to Berlin. Not sure of exact times and dates, but I'll let you know.

WJ

 

[Whistlingjack]

Well, exams for the first module commence tomorrow and I've spent the weekend cramming. This is a pity, because the weather has been so nice for a change.

First up, raw materials - barley, followed by raw materials - hops. On tuesday we have three exams, malting technology, chemistry and energy. All the lecturers have been trying to gauge our knowledge so they can set the questions fairly, so this past week has been filled with surprise tests and quizzes.

I'm quietly confident that I know the material, but exams worry the sh!t out of me.

We have finished the malt and barley analysis in the lab, for now, so the report and calculations are also there waiting for me.

Anyway, back to the books...

WJ

 

[Slurpdog]

Best of luck with your exams WJ.
I'm really enjoying reading this thread but it makes me envious that I didn't travel in my younger years.
Keep it up WJ, you're certainly living a lot of peoples dreams here.

 

[Whistlingjack]

Thanks, Slurpdog

You're never too old. In fact I have a few years on you, young'un... :lol:

WJ

 

[SpillsMostOfIt]

You're never too old.

My in-laws are in their mid-seventies and travelling Europe. That's a good start as an illustration...

And to reinforce this, I learnt something last week... No - wait - the week before... Either way, you are probably never too old to learn something in a foreign place.

I'm still envious though.

 

[Whistlingjack]

Well, fellow brewers, the day of reckoning has arrived. The first exams are upon us...

Got the usual pre-exam jitters and my stomach won't stop churning. I need a beer!

I did lots of cramming over the weekend, with classmates. The general consensus was that there is so much to know at this level how can they ask us all of it?

Took time out yesterday for a visit to the Karneval street parade. This is crazy stuff!

Anyway, if I haven't jumped off the Westhafen bridge on the way home this arvo, I let you know how it went.

WJ

 

[Doc]

Good luck with the exams Whistlingjack.
If you have studied all weekend, you will do fine.

Beers,
Doc

 

[Whistlingjack]

Thanks, Doc...

The answers are in my head somewhere. Just got to get them onto the paper...

WJ

 

[Whistlingjack]

Two down, three to go...

I think I did OK on both the exams today. I felt good about the barley but I was a bit disappointed that I couldn't remember more of what I'd read on the hops. All the weird names of the hop oils threw me a bit..

Why couldn't the guys who first isolate the components think about the students who are going to eventually study them and give them simple names? I won't tell you what I wrote, but I'm sure the marker will acknowledge the effort and maybe give some marks for the comic relief... :lol:

Oh well, back to the books. The worst is to come tomorrow!

WJ

 

[Simon W]

You'll be fine with the exams WJ, I'm sure the marking would take into account the tough names. I'd say theyre more interested in whether you know which is which and not their spelling.

Took time out yesterday for a visit to the Karneval street parade. This is crazy stuff!

It is! I caught karnival purely by accident in Munich.
For days Munich had been pretty standard crowd wise, just like any city. But one day I had been out of town, came back on the train and decided to get off the subway at MarienPlatz station. I started walking up the stairs and was wondering what all the noise was about, the sound of a million voices and what sounded like bombs or something. Got to ground level and was greeted with what looked like a million people, most dressed up in costume and lots of big drums beating. Almost impossible to move around. Kinda like Royal Show crowds, thick!. It was one hell of a surprise.
I have never been to the Oktoberfest, but I reckon the locals party harder for this. Very few tourists being winter(March).

Simo

 

[Whistlingjack]

Well. that's it. All done and dusted. First module down!

Did ok on the malting exam, energy wasn't too bad but chemistry was a killer! All those equations and definitions...

Hey SimonW, they do party hard for Karneval. Monday was a half-day holiday for most workplaces here.

Anyway, we're off to the nearest Gastatte to let off some steam over a few beers.... :chug:

WJ

 

[Whistlingjack]

...and a good time was had by all. Out for a few beers at a local restaurant/bar then a kebab for dinner (these are really special in Berlin) and on to another nearby brewpub. This was the nicest one yet!

We have had more luck finding good beer in these out-of-the-way brewpubs. The larger ones have ok beer, but these smaller ones are far better. Two examples are Brauhaus Markus in Mitte and Eschenbrau in Wedding. The latter is run by a VLB graduate... :super:

Of course, the classes don't stop during exam time so we have been getting the usual microbiology, brewery arithmetics, water treatment, etc, etc.

The best part is, I can relax a little and not feel guilty about drinking beer rather than studying. Wait, my 75% average for exams has proven I can do both...

WJ

This message has been brought to you courtesy of the makers of Berliner Pilsner.

 

[Whistlingjack]

Well thats it for the first module.

Our main lecturer, Burghard Meyer, says that the content from now on will be much harder and we should think about studying for our next exams from next week.

I agree. The material in the manuals is looking very complicated and I reckon that the beer/study equation needs to be refined...

Some hard work coming up, but who said that brewing beer was easy?

WJ

 

[Whistlingjack]

Yesterday was lab day again. The subject was measurement of Free Amino Nitrogen in wort and beer.

Got out before lunch so I took the subway into the Ku Damm (central shopping area) for a look around. Masses of people out despite the freezing conditions.

This weekend will be a mixture of sight-seeing and light study. I think I need to get ahead of the material by getting back into pre-reading.

Nice weather today, so my wife and I are off to Kpenick to look at the old town.

WJ

 

[Whistlingjack]

Well, the final results of module one exams are in. Chemistry let me down and I have to do a make-up test on it.

Today we started lectures on where the real action is...the brewhouse... :super:

The first series is about milling. I didn't think it was so involved. All those grist fractions and sieve values. But it makes sense.

We also had more lectures in water treatment, finished up chemistry (ugh) and started on biochemistry (I don't mind this bit, seeing its used in my "other profession").

I've started a more formal study routine and some different note-taking methods for this module. I'll see if this works better.

WJ

Ps Found a stubbie of XXXX the other day, so I bought it for my classmate to go with his sweatshirt. Its brewed in Italy!

 

[Whistlingjack]

Today we spent more time at the microscope looking at some of the nasty beer spoilage bacteria. The odours of these were quite familiar... :unsure:

On the same tack, we had a lecture from Professor Dr.-Ing. Frank-Jrgen Methner, the chair of brewing science at the Technischen Universitt, Berlin. This is closely associated with the VLB. He also talked about beer spoilage bacteria and some of the problems encountered.

Tomorrow is the first Thursday of the month and that means...free beer at the pilot brewery... :chug:

WJ

 

[Whistlingjack]

Today was the day!

Up before dawn, a brisk walk through the chilly Berlin streets to the VLB pilot brewery. Yes, today was brewday... :beerbang:

We milled 30kg of grain and mashed in at 0700hrs. We produced 150 litres of a pilsner-style beer which will be exhaustively tested for all parameters and then disposed of in the only right way. I will ask for my share in bottles...

A long day, topped off with a kebab for lunch (love these things) and a look at the Berlin Crocodiles AFL team's intra-club scratch match.

WJ