Beer seminar is all the buzz in the William Pitt Union

Each place setting in the William Pitt Union Ballroom Wednesday night included a small slice… Each place setting in the William Pitt Union Ballroom Wednesday night included a small slice of bread, a bottle of water, eight plastic shot glasses, and a copy of Great Lakes Brewing News’ “Celebrating a Region’s Beer and Culture.”

Upon entering the International Beer Tasting Seminar, students had various ideas of how the night would transpire. Some predicted that they would be kicked out of the event, and some planned to use the Pitt Program Council-sponsored sampling as pre-gaming for the bar, while others were more ambitious and planned a follow-up beer Olympics.

But their plans were soon foiled when Pitt Program Council advisor Tom Misuracou announced that it was “not a drink-and-drown night.” He pointed out the buckets on the tables and stated that consuming the beer is not mandatory.

“Connoisseurs generally spit,” he added.

A representative from Student Health Services continued to dampen the party mood by distributing Blood Alcohol Content cards and explaining the risks of drinking.

But when Tony Knipling took the microphone and proclaimed the glory of beer, students listened with attention. His comments on the importance of beer and his disdain for “born on” dates were lauded.

A home brewer for more than a decade and a nationally accredited beer judge, Knipling traced the roots of beer back to ancient civilization.

“Ancient Sumerian recipes were found on tablets dating back to 1500 BC,” he said, adding that, “in ancient Egypt, beer was used as currency.”

“Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock because they ran out of beer,” he said, explaining that beer stayed fresh while the drinking water on the Mayflower spoiled.

He traced the importance of beer through the brewers of the Continental Congress, when “beer was considered healthy,” through the Great Depression and Prohibition era, after which, “beer got dumbed down with corn.”

Knipling explained the brewing process and showed samples of the ingredients of hops, grains and yeast. He explained that a beer maker has complete control over the process because he, unlike a wine maker, does not have to worry about a bad harvest. The beer maker can also get creative during the process by using different types and amounts of ingredients, he added.

A packet of papers at each place setting explained the process in more detail, and Knipling assigned it as “homework.”

The pamphlet also included facts about the beers that students would sample during the evening.

Of the 26 styles of beer, Pitt students tasted eight: five types of ale, two lagers and an Oktoberfest beer.

The beers hailed from all over the world. Obolon Lager (Kiev, Ukraine), Bells Oberon Ale (Comstock, Michigan), Stoudt’s American Pale Ale (Adamstown, Pa.), Strongarm Ruby Red Ale (Hartle Pool, England), Coopers Dark Ale (Leabrook, Australia), Aldaris Porteris (Riga, Latvia), Buffalo Bill’s Pumpkin Ale (Portland, Ore.), and Original Oktoberfest (Munich, Germany) were the sampled beers.