Beer Education: Syllabus

This is more of the starting point, with the syllabus just being the ‘cap’ to it. Its more about starting the course than the actual syllabus. I’ll walk through what I did to start up the course, and then cover the syllabus at the end. I was tempted to call this: “Beer Education: The Start” but I figured saying “Beer Education: Syllabus” sounded more formal, scholarly, and the right place to really start it.

Opening page describes procedures of the class, when it ends, when it begins, how it works, when you lose access to it (if you don’t finish) (June 25th, 2020). Scrolling down the opening page, you see a segment with the EdX logo (an X with a smiley face and a graduating cap), it gives you the options of: EARN A CERTIFICATE or COMPLETE THE COURSE or EXPLORE THE COURSE. The certificate will cost 99$, but they are running a special for 84.15$.

On the right hand side, there is a list of upcoming dates:

* May 21st, 2020
“You are still eligible to upgrade to a Verified Certificate! Pursue it to highlight the knowledge and skills you gain in this course.Upgrade to Verified Certificate.”
* May 31st, 2020
“After this date, course content will be archived.”
* June 2, 2020
“Day certificates will become available for passing verified learners.”

I selected “Complete the Course”, since I don’t need the certificate (or at least, if I wish to get it, I can get it later). (You can do whichever is best for you.)

The page then gives an outline (a syllabus) of the course:

• Introduction
  * Welcome to the BrewingX Course
  * Course Overview
  * Experiments: Do It Yourself!
  * Quiz: Determine Your Beer Profile
  * Feedback and Questions
• Module 1: History and Overview of Brewing Process
  * Overview Module 1
  * Beer Brewing
  * Do It Yourself: Beer Tasting
  * Do It Yourself: Malting at Home
  * Assessment Module 1
  * Feedback and questions
• Module 2: Barley and Malting
  * Overview Module 2
  * Do It Yourself: Cereals used in brewing
  * Barley – the preferred starting material for maltsters
  * Do It Yourself: discussing malting at home
  * The malting process
  * Malt types
  * Assessment Module 2
  * Feedback and questions
• Module 3: Water
  * Overview Module 3
  * Water composition
  * Water treatment
  * Expert talk
  * Do It Yourself: Hops and spices preparation
  * Verified track content: Practical tips for brewers
  * Assessment Module 3
  * Feedback and Questions
• Module 4: Hops and Spices
  * Introduction
  * Important molecule classes in hops
  * Hopping techniques
  * Verified track content: What are hops used by brewers?
  * Spices and herbs
  * Do it Yourself: preparation for fermentation experiment
  * Assessment Module 4
  * Feedback and questions

All of these are links that you can click on and view at your leisure. You can either click the first link (or any) or hit the “Begin Course” in the upper right. After doing so, it then becomes a “Resume Course” button.

Now that we got the syllabus out of the way, and the logistics of the class. Let’s get started. Follow me as we hit “Begin Course: and start at the introduction in the next article!

Cheers and happy learning ‘soon to be beer scholars’!

-B. Kline

The Beer Education Series:
** EdX: The Science of Beer Brewing
* Beer Education: Series
* Beer Education: Syllabus
* Beer Education: Introduction
* Beer Education: Module One: The History of Beer Brewing
* Beer Education: Module Two: Barley and Malting
* Beer Education: Module Three: Water
* Beer Education: Module Four: Hops and Spices
* Beer Education: Module Five: Yeast
* Beer Education: Module Six: The Steps of the Brewing Process
* Beer Education: Module Seven: Fermentation and Maturation
* Beer Education: Module Eight: Filtration and Packaging
* Beer Education: Module Nine: Beer Quality and Stability
* Beer Education: Module Ten: Beer Assessment and Tasting
* Beer Education: Series Overview