The QLD government has built a giant beer laboratory at Coopers Plains and wants to encourage Queenslanders to study beer. Honest
In one of one of the most attractive education offers for 2020, the Queensland government is for the first time offering a certificate III TAFE course in brewing beer.
Beer consumption declined by 9.5 per cent over the past decade, according to Euromonitor International, sinking to its lowest point in 65 years. Only craft beer consumption is increasing.
But revenue from Queensland’s craft brewers has increased 9.7 per cent every year between 2013 and 2018, as detailed in the government's Craft Brewing Strategy. The nuts and bolt of the state's new giant beer laboratory – known as BrewLab – are simple. It is located at Coopers Plains’ Health and Food Sciences Precinct at Kessels Road and the certificate III in food processing (brewing) will open to students in 2020.
Would be students will need to enrol early, because only 10 people are accepted for each 20-week course.
The government will contribute $1.1 million over five years to get the course flowing. BrewLab is mainly aimed at Queensland’s craft brewers and craft breweries; a $62 million industry with the potential to grow. Felons Brewing Co at Howard Smith Wharves is one of several new craft breweries that have opened in Brisbane.But the TAFE course is open to everyone.
State Development Minister Cameron Dick on Thursday had the "difficult" job of explaining the advantages of expanding Queensland’s craft beer industry.
“Craft brewing has the potential to contribute around $100 million to the Queensland economy each year," he said.
"So we’re investing in the future of these businesses through initiatives like BrewLab to ensure our brewers can keep employing and thriving.”
Mr Dick said the main aim of BrewLab was to give brewers the chance to test new beer recipes without interrupting their commercial production lines. “Providing craft brewers with state-of-the-art facilities to create
new recipes will ensure the local industry continues to grow and more jobs are created,” he said.
The new facility includes a sensory lab where beer experts taste the beers, judging their acidity and alcohol content.
“Brewers can also get their brewery staff trained in precise identification and tasting of aromas, flavours and tastes," Mr Dick said.
The TAFE course is broad enough to appeal to home brewers as well as professional craft brewers. It also offers the opportunity for students to work with Queensland’s Grains Quality Research Lab in Toowoomba, where they can learn about grain and malt quality.
There are roughly 90 craft breweries operating in Queensland and each employs an average of about 20 workers.
The state government plans to expand the craft beer industry from $62 million to $100 million by 2026.
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