Bring your craft beer curiosities and join DC Brau Wort Wizard, Yeast Whisperer, Dr. James Shellhammer for an immersive mid-day brewing experience! This three-part, interactive class will be an introduction to doing your own brewing. We will begin with a short seminar on the history of beer styles and brewing concepts for the beginning homebrewer. We will then move on to a brewing demonstration of a classic American IPA with an ingredient sensory experience, and end with a comparative tasting of the homebrew with its commercial counterpart. Participants will learn the basic theoretical and technical aspects of brewing, different options for a homebrewing setup, how to design a recipe, and how to formally taste beer.

Dr. James Shellhammer is a brewer and the QA/QC Scientist at DC Brau Brewing Company, DC’s first production brewery since 1956. James began homebrewing in 2013 during graduate school where he studied how yeast metabolism changes in response to environmental stress conditions. He spent two years living in Dublin, Ireland and has traveled Europe experiencing different beer cultures and learning about beer history. James began his professional brewing career in 2019 as QA/QC Program Manager at Silver Branch Brewing Company, where he set up and ran the quality and sensory programs. In early 2022, he began working at DC Brau where he brews on the 30-barrel brewhouse and is working on expanding the lab program. James has led forums for homebrewers about yeast and fermentation, and is an active member of the DC brewing community.

As this class is in-person, we require all attendees to be vaccinated against COVID-19. This class requires at least 6 participants.