If you’ve thought about brewing beer or distilling spirits, this may be the course for you. Fall courses with August sign-up, Veterans qualify for educational benefits
“This course is great for students that want a deep dive into the theoretical and practical foundation of brewing beer and distilling professionally.”
The Brewing and Distilling Center (BDC), based in Knoxville, TN, is a trade school geared towards the student wanting professional training in beer brewing and spirits distillation that will help them get a job in the industry. The center is led by President, Dr. Todd White. The BDC is offering a new session of the Professional Brewing & Distilling Technology course, this fall starting August 16, 2021. Registration deadline is August 9th. The class qualifies for Veterans Affairs Educational Benefits – giving former service members the ability to increase their secondary education in brewing beer and distilling spirits.
“This course is great for students that want a deep dive into the theoretical and practical foundation of brewing beer and distilling taught by professionals in the industry. It’s also a great class for anyone who wants to work with beer distributors, become product reps, manage taprooms and start companies providing products in brewing,” says Dr. White. “Our graduates get jobs and we help many get their own breweries started right out of the gate!”
Lectures happen on site for students who can travel to the BDC and online for others who cannot, making classes available to anyone anywhere in the country. Each student also participates in 4 practical brewing days on a professional pilot system in the BDC Brew House onsite either throughout the session or in a concentrated week for online participants.
“The possibilities for students after this course are endless. Having a solid understanding of these two industries serves a wide variety of career choices whether for employment, professional enrichment or for the entrepreneur,” explains Dr. White. “We regularly work with our industry contacts to help connect our students with job openings in the industry. There is and will be an ever present and growing demand for qualified professionals for these industries.”
The class also accepts and works with many former service members to qualify for Veterans Affairs Educational Benefits and takes pride in helping place many veterans in job positions after graduation.
“Obviously, we support our veterans because of their sacrifice to our great country. We want to assist these men and women who want to enter the brewing and distilling industry job market,” says Dr. White. “We have many veteran graduates that are gainfully employed in the brewing and distilling industries. From our past experience, our veteran students are extremely disciplined, dedicated and passionate about learning the industry trade and entering the job market or even starting their own brewery or distillery.”
With a scientific and entrepreneurial background as veterinarian, an architect, a collegiate science instructor and a craft beer shop owner, “Doc” considered the rapidly-expanding US craft beer market and wondered “Where are these new breweries getting qualified, trained brewers?” After market research, he discovered a demand for affordable professional brewing and distilling instruction. In 2013, the Brewing & Distilling Center was established to meet this demand.
Fall Course
13 weeks | 12 hours/week
Classes: Monday – Wednesday, starting 5:30 PM EST
On Site Brew Days: 4.
Learn more here: brewinganddistillingcenter.com
While the new rye release comes soon after the purchase of the Kentucky Owl brand by industry giant Stoli, Dedman says the project is one he has been working on for a while. “I’m super excited about this rye and have been for some time. I’ve been working on/with it for quite a while. I finally felt like it was time to let it go and the response has been amazing.
Michael Pendley lives in the heart of central Kentucky’s bourbon country. When he isn’t poking around local distilleries, he can usually be found searching for dusty bottles of old whiskey that might be hidden in the back rooms of liquor stores. He, along with his wife and three children, are very active in the outdoors. Michael also writes the twice-weekly wild game cooking blog 
September is Bourbon Heritage Month. To celebrate, the city of Bardstown, KY throws a week-long, bourbon centric party for the entire world. Last year’s Kentucky Bourbon Festival saw approximately 53,000 attendees hailing from 44 States and 14 different countries descend on the small, central KY community for a week of bourbon games, bonfires, food, bourbon tastings, seminars from bourbon experts, and cocktail parties.
Full events list and ticket costs can be found at 
Moonshine University will also present the “A Whiskey and Its Grains” in which they will host an in-depth class that examines how each individual grain can greatly affect the spirit that comes off the still. They will examine corn, rye, wheat, and malted barley, the four grains that make up on 99% of whiskeys, and how each grain adds its own specific flavors and aromas to whiskey. Learn the nuances of each grain and how it will impact the final product. They will also cover the fast-growing trend of using alternative grains and how those will change the whiskeys that we know and love. Instruction includes a thorough analysis of each individual grain distillate, as well as the production process of milling, cooking, fermentation, and distillation. (Friday, September 15th from 10a.m-12 noon)
As you would expect from a Bourbon Festival, cocktail parties abound at the event. Events like the Sip & Savor in the Spirit of Old Kentucky, The Great KY Bourbon Tasting & Gala, Boots and Bourbon, and the Bourbon, Cigars & Jazz offer something for everyone.
A bourbon must:
Distiller: Brown-Forman
Michael Pendley lives in the heart of central Kentucky’s bourbon country. When he isn’t poking around local distilleries, he can usually be found searching for dusty bottles of old whiskey that might be hidden in the back rooms of liquor stores. He, along with his wife and three children, are very active in the outdoors. Michael also writes the twice-weekly wild game cooking blog 
Ingredients
Lincoln and Wes had the idea to experiment with high quality Kentucky straight bourbon and rye finished in different woods. For the bourbon, they settled on ruby port casks. For the rye, the duo decided on used Caribbean rum barrels. The whiskey would age in the standard oak barrels for 5 to 7 years, then get transferred to the port and rum casks to continue aging anywhere from 6 to 18 additional months.
