Third Space Brewing, 1505 W. St. Paul Ave., is kicking off a series of classes called Beer School at its Menomonee Valley classroom.
The monthly classes, which begin in January, are taught by Third Space co-founder and brewmaster Kevin Wright.
Here are the first six classes...
- How to taste and evaluate beer, Jan. 27, 6:30 p.m.
- IPAs, Feb. 24, 6:30 p.m.
- Ales of the British Isles, March 31, 6:30 p.m.
- Belgian beers, April 28, 6:30 p.m.
- Pairing beer and cheese, May 26, 6:30 p.m.
- Sour beers, June 30, 6:30 p.m.
Each 90-minute class includes a welcome beer, six 5-ounce pours of beer related to the class topic and some light snacks.
At the first class, as an example of the content on tap, according to the Third Space website, “learn how to critically taste and evaluate beer based on appearance, aroma, taste, mouthfeel and finish. We will help you start to develop a lexicon for describing beer as we explore a wide range of styles and flavors.”
The classes are open to about 35 students each and cost $30 per class. You can sign up here.
“This will be an ongoing offering from Third Space Brewing,” says the brewery’s Events Coordinator Kara Olds. “As long as people keep coming, we will continue to find new topics to cover.
“There is a deep and vast catalog of beer knowledge to explore and Brewmaster Kevin is ready to dive in.”
Olds says that a group of Third Space staffers hit upon the idea for the classes when they realized that there isn’t much out there in terms of beer education in the city.
“We are hoping these classes will bring knowledge to those who are new to the beer world as well as beer aficionados in an equally engaging way,” says Olds.
Brewmaster Wright earned his Brewing Diploma from UC-Davis in 2009, and was later given the JS Ford Award for obtaining the highest score in the world on the Institute of Brewing and Distilling Brewing Diploma Exam, says Olds.
“We think if there is anyone qualified to lead a good beer class,” she says, “Kevin is the guy.
“Kevin has a love of teaching and beer expertise that we are lucky to have at Third Space, so an educational offering seemed like the perfect fit.”
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
