The beer is brewing at Dakota County Technical College.
From home brewers, to those hoping to one day own and operate their own brewery, DCTC’s Brewing Science and Production certificate program continues to generate all kinds of interest.
“There's typically three types of students who really feel drawn to this program,” said Andrew Burns, the instructor and department head for DCTC’s Brewing Science and Production Program. “There's the type of student who just wants to go and work in the industry and a passion for beer, likes going to breweries, and sees themselves working in a brewery one day. They view it as a career path, which it is, and don't know how to get started.”
The second group of students, according to Burns, is full of students wanting to own or run a brewery in the future.
“Maybe as a retirement plan, maybe as a career change, or maybe it's just fulfilling a dream. These students often have a day job and then they're attending these classes in addition to that,” Burns said.
And then, there are home brewers who have taken interest in the program.
“They just love beer and brewing. They're probably a home brewer and want to make better beer. They want to learn more about beer and beer brewing . Yeah, maybe they'll work in a brewery, but in the short term they just want to learn more.”
Robby Cecil completed the program in May 2023, but has been home brewing for 14 years.
“I think it's a classic story,” Cecil said. “I had a former partner get me a home brewing kit and that sat in my parents' basement in Bloomington for three or four years.”
His beer making adventure finally began inside one of his friend’s kitchens.
“It's sort of snowballed from there,” added Cecil. “I went from just boiling pre-made ingredients on the stove to doing all-grain in the garage on kettles and stuff that were converted from kegs. It was just all of the real stereotypical home brewing standing in the garage kind of stuff.”
After about 13 years as a graphic designer and web developer, Cecil went through a career change which inspired him to enroll in DCTC’s year-long brewing production certificate program.
“I just thought that if I wanted to be doing the hobby professionally, I should probably get some qualifications and credentials to do that to the best of my ability.”
The year-long Brewing Science and Production Program begins in the fall semester and consists of two components. The program includes the Brewing Science and Production which is offered online.
There’s also the Applied Brewing Science and Production portion, which meets on Saturdays and gives students the chance to actually make beer on-campus.
“We have brewing equipment on campus, so we've essentially replicated the commercial brewing process from start to finish at a small scale in what we call the ‘Brewing Lab,’” Burns said. “In-person students actually spend time every week in the lab. If they’re not making beer that day, they are doing some tasks related to beer that's in progress or has been made or is about to be made.”
The knowledge learned inside the brewing lab is applied by students through a required internship component of the program.
Cecil worked as a ‘jack-of-all-trades' worker at the now-closed East Lake Craft Brewery in Minneapolis.
“There I definitely got to get my hands on pretty much anything you can think of,” Cecil said. “I drove the delivery van, I moved large pieces of equipment that I've never moved before, I brewed beer, and I served beer. I did everything.”
The real-life brewery experience, according to Burns, is making a difference for students when it comes to getting hired once they finish the brewing program.
“The breweries that are out there are still growing, they're expanding, and they're hiring. I just looked the other day and there's five or six brewing jobs open and unfulfilled right now in the Twin Cities. Essentially every student that wants a job in the industry who's graduated from the program in the past couple years I think is currently working in the industry.”
And breweries looking to fill job openings are benefitting from the program as well.
“These brands are trusting their core product to the production of a few individuals, so they want to make sure those individuals know what they're doing,” added Burns. “They've got some science background, they've got some knowledge of Industry standards, and so students graduating from this program are having a relatively easy time getting those brewing jobs and putting their skills to work.”
One of the biggest hurdles, Cecil said, was getting back into the college mindset.
“I enjoyed the way it was set up. The one day a week full day of classroom and lab/brewery work fit my schedule, I have two little kids five and three or there abouts, we were able to take care of them and stuff during the week. Then just focusing on the classroom stuff one day really worked out well for me. I went to a four year college for the graphic design stuff so it was just more getting back into the swing of it all. It's a legitimate college class, so it’s just getting back in the swing of doing your tests and doing all that kind of stuff.”
The beer isn’t too bad, most of the time.
“We’ve essentially replicated the commercial brewing process from start to finish in what we call the brewing lab,” Burns said. “ In-person students spend time every week in the lab if not making beer that day, or doing some tasks related to beer that’s in-progress that has been made or is about to be made. They can try on a small-scale where they’re allowed to fail. It’s fine if one beer tastes terrible. The goal is to learn from it so the next one doesn't.”
Whether the course is online, or in person, Burns sees an opportunity to share his love for the beer industry.
"That's why we do what we do as brewers. It's the tangible product that is the reward that makes this job a little different than an office job, or something where the results are less tangible. At the end of the day you can hold a can, or drink a pint of the product and be proud of what you made."