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Beer, Bars & Brewers #28

Hello pals! This week in our Beer, Bars, and Brewers news we’ve got a dream job (beer historian at the Smithsonian) now filled, Belgian MPs who refuse to pay for their beer (and why should they?!), and the fourth annual BeerBartenders Awards, as well as the first annual  International Beer Conference, taking place in Greece. Prost!

Interested in what you can gain from attending the Culinary Institue of America? So was Ryan Harrington, who wrote about his experience for Lucky Peach magazine. The author visited a one-day version of the course that came about from a partnership between the Brooklyn Brewery and the CIA. He was taught by the CIA’s head brewer Hutch Kugeman and Brooklyn Brewery’s brewmaster Garrett Oliver. Everything he learned, this way. 

The Smithsonian Found their Craft Beer Historian

Remember back in July 2016 when the Internet was going crazy about the “best job ever” aka when The Smithsonian was searching for a beer historian? Well, they found one! And it’s a her! (I’m torn between between being annoyed that we still have to celebrate this fact, but happy that it’s true) The Washingtonian reports that “Theresa McCulla will be researching beer and brewing history for the National Museum of American History”.

McCulla has a culinary degree and is currently working on her Ph.D. in American Studies from Harvard, she is set to conduct research on “how beer and brewing fits into the broader American experience”. She will also travel around the States to gather oral histories from home brewers, all the while collections brewing artifacts for the museum. McCulla herself hails from the American beer capitol Milwaukee, her father used to ferment beers in their shower.

She also hopes to squash the myths and stereotypes associated with beer today. “Beer and brewing now have a personality that is almost exclusively masculine, but if we look at history, the first brewers in America were women and enslaved people brewing out of the home,” she says. Follow McCulla’s research on the National Museum of American History’s Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram pages through #beerhistory and #Smithsonianfood.

Belgian Parliament Decides to Keep Serving Itself Free Beer

The hilariously named blog “Lowering the Bar” reports that Belgian lawmakers have rejected a proposal that would have put an end to parliament’s open bar. Apparently MPs have been eagerly guzzling down free beer and wine since the late 1990s, when the leadership got tired of trying to get the MPs out of local bars whenever a vote was set to take place.

Apparently, some cafes even installed a a bell back in the day, to signal the MPs that the voge was beginning. In order to put an end to this practice, wine and beer became available in the coffee room (Europe, eh? Thank goodness we’re able to call it home). Belgium is by no means the only place home to drunken lawmakers, the British House of Hommons has a whooping four bars, that offer cheap (though not free!) beers ot MPs.

Greece: 1st International Beer Conference and 4th BeerBartender Awards

The Greek BeerBartender Awards will be taking place for the fourth time this year. Home at the Zappeion Megaron, the awards will consist of 12 different categories. The jury is made up of tasting judges, journalists, and beer specialist from abroad. The ceremony takes place on the 8th of March. The first International Beer Conference will take place on the 7th of March 2017, a session that invites international beer experts to discuss issues that are important to both the global and the Greek brewing scene. “The first International Beer Conference is addressed to professionals and those who have a direct or indirect interest in it”. More information here.

Credits

Foto: Photo via Tim Klöcker.

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