Hops to the top

University of South Florida’s Sarasota-Manatee campus is brewing the next generation of craft beer masters.

For the second semester, USFSM has been teaching a new class, Introduction to Beer Science. The class is held in the Lakewood Ranch culinary innovation lab.

After the launching the class last spring, the enrollment doubled in size from 12 to 24 for the fall 2015 semester.

For Jordan Bailey, a senior at USFSM who lives in Lakewood Ranch, the class began as an elective to fill in her remaining hours for her hospitality degree. While she had no intention of learning the trade for a career, she said the hands-on aspect of the class kept her engaged, and she successfully created a blueberry blonde ale from scratch.

"My beer is fantastic," she said after naming it “The Beautiful Blue-eyed Blonde."

What’s the drive behind the interest in craft beer?

Joe Askren, director and instructor at the culinary innovation lab, attributes the explosion of interest in local brews to the 20- and 30-something generation.

“People in their 20s and 30s, they’re not blinking at a $10 six-pack,” he said. “They appreciate flavor. This generation wants more than one flavor.”

Sarasota and Bradenton are home to several micro-breweries already, such as Darwin Brewing, JDub's, and Big Top Brewing Co.

More breweries and craft beer shops are expected to open in the next year, including Craft Growlers to Go & Tasting Room on Lakewood Ranch Main Street.

“Beer is the new wine for this generation,” said Johnette Cappadona, major gifts officer for the college of hospitality. “This generation saw their parents do this with wine, and they’re doing it with beer.”

The beer science class teaches students about both managing a brew house and the science of making beer. Students toured local breweries and then spent time working with brew masters to develop their own beer. The semester culminated at an event Thursday, Dec. 3, when the students’ beers were available for tasting and reviewed by a panel of local brewmasters.

When Askren and Ken Caswell, the other instructor of the course and a chemistry professor, started planning, they thought they would have a hard time getting local breweries involved in teaching other people how to make a craft beer. The reaction they got was the exact opposite.

“All of the brewmasters have this strong relationship,” Askren said. “They talk about best practices, they do beers together. They don’t want a brewer to come in with a bad beer.”

Darwin’s Brewing Company of Bradenton, Big Top Brewing Co. of Sarasota, Green Bench Brewing of St. Petersburg and Cigar City and Avid Brewing of Tampa assisted with the class.

Mark Tuchman, former owner of Mr. Beery’s in Sarasota, hatched the idea for the class with Askren and Caswell, and then consulted with them about how to structure the course. As someone immersed in the craft beer culture as well as the local brewing community, Tuchman said the trick to local craft brewing is keeping three to four regular beers that the company markets and then coming up with new ideas.

Darwin brewer Jorge Rosabal said those in the industry work together.

"The brewing industry in Tampa Bay, we're like a brotherhood," he said. "We are trying to put Florida on the American beer map. That's our goal, and I am proud to be a part of that."