Welcome to the school of fun
Want to know more about beer? Then the Beer Academy's for you. Alastair Gilour reports
Advice is appreciated when it has been passed on by someone from the land of Been There Done It.
But it’s only when they have the experience, knowledge, ability, qualifications and personality to support their message that they can buy the metaphorical T-shirt.
As a student at Newcastle University, George Philliskirk would head for the nearby Hotspur pub for a lunchtime bottle of Newcastle Brown Ale and a pie.
There’s something comforting about a pie-and-pint man; it’s to do with fundamentals, grassroots and good old basics.
It’s to do with Been There and taking everything on board, slow learning curves and an acknowledgement of the world around – and 30+ years further on, George is putting the T-shirt to good use.
Following a 24-year career in bacteriology and biochemistry in Britain’s foremost brewing companies, he is now chief executive of The Beer Academy, a notfor- profit initiative conceived in 2003 and formally launched in April 2004, which is designed to help people inside or outside the brewing industry to develop a greater understanding of beer.
And with understanding comes appreciation and a thirst for more knowledge.
The Beer Academy doesn’t teach people how to make beer; its intention is to attract a vibrant mix of beer lovers (plus the merely curious), journalists, pub staff, brewery personnel, public relations companies, wholesalers and restaurateurs into a range of courses that will raise the profile and positive aspect of drinking and enjoying beer to .....
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Section : Spotlight
Page number : 28
