These courses gave me interaction with knowledgeable, in-industry instructors along with weekly lecturers that were well grounded in the current challenges of starting and running a brewery. This is extremely valuable and hopefully will reduce the number of startup mistakes.
- Michael Kuderka
Why Portland State University?
This program — the first of its kind — was developed in Portland, Oregon, a city also known as “Beervana,” the craft beer capital of the world. The instructors are not only deep subject matter experts, they also are widely connected throughout the craft brewing community and regularly bring in guest speakers to share different perspectives from around the country.
Who Should Attend
Established industry professionals, home brewers interested in launching their own microbreweries, and anyone interested in learning the unique challenges and opportunities of the business side of craft brewing.
Local breweries/distilleries/suppliers that have participated in this program include Rogue, Widmer, Migration Brewing, Hopworks Urban Brewery, Captured by Porches, Bull Run Distillery, Great Western Malting, JV Northwest, Reverend Nat's Hard Cider, The Ale Apothecary, Country Malt Group, Craft Canning and Bottling, and The Oregon Hophouse, among many more.
What You’ll Learn
Upon completion of this program, students will have gained the knowledge to Implement a fully actionable business plan. In addition, by participating in this program, students will have opportunities to gain the skills to:
- Create an operations and distribution plan;
- Develop a marketing and sales strategy;
- Understand regulation and compliance issues;
- Be familiar with best practices for tasting/taprooms.
Expected Workload
Students can expect to spend approximately 16 hours in total on coursework per course. Examples of this work may include attending live sessions led by instructors and guest speakers (BB401 & BB402 only), watching video lectures, reading and writing assignments, completing quizzes, and conducting market research.
Program Alumni
A few examples of breweries that have successfully launched after completion of this program are:
- Trap Door Brewery and Taproom, Vancouver, WA
- Postdoc Brewing, Redmond, WA
- Wander Brewing, Bellingham, WA
- Button Brew House, Tucson, AZ
- Augustino Brewing Company, Wichita, KS
- Intermission Beer Company, Glen Allen, VA
- Crasian Brewing, Brookston, IN
- Mountain Lakes Brewing Company, Spokane, WA
- Burke's Alewerks, Hanover, MA
- Rocket Frog Brewing Company, Sterling, VA