Next Saturday, January 26th, beer school is in session at Belmont Station. Former brewmaster and Master Cicerone® Rich Higgins will be teaching a two session class for bartenders, brewers, and beer lovers using sensory science to assess beer quality and brewing techniques.

Session 1: Beer Off-Flavors Tasting Seminar (1:00 - 3:00 PM):

How beer is brewed, aged, and handled can sometimes create flaws called off-flavors. This session is a double tasting of beers spiked with 12 common off-flavors, and concludes with a blind taste test. From sour lactic acid to eggy sulfides, learn what these faults taste like, how to prevent them from occurring, and in which beer styles they can be acceptable.

Session 2: Deductive Beer Tasting Method (3:30 - 6:00 PM)

Higgins, who is a Certified Sommelier in addition to being a Master Cicerone®, has developed a Deductive Beer Tasting Method and teaches this class to help both novice and advanced tasters hone their palates.

 “Sommeliers have an incredibly useful deductive method for tasting wine. Beer is more complex than wine, and Cicerones, brewers, and beer fans deserve a proper method for consistent tasting, description, and comprehension of all that a beer has to say,” Higgins says about this class, in which students will receive a downloadable Guide to the Method.

After the school day’s final bell rings at 6 p.m., Higgins will offer his favorite version of “open office hours.” He’ll be found mingling at the bar at Belmont Station to meet and greet. No doubt, he’ll be fielding questions from aspiring Cicerones studying for February’s upcoming Portland Certified Cicerone® Exam.

A very limited number of seats is available for this one-time, one-afternoon series. Beer School discounted tickets are available for $115 for both sessions, and are also available per-session from $60-$75. Event information and tickets are available at: http://richhiggins.com/events-classes/beer-school-belmont-station

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ABOUT RICH HIGGINS, Consultant à la Bière: Master Cicerone, Brewmaster & Certified Sommelier

Rich Higgins is all things beer: brewmaster, beer travel operator, educator, trainer, public speaker, and a consultant to breweries and restaurants. He is one of 18 Master Cicerones in the world, and additionally is a Certified Sommelier. He runs Beer Immersion educational beer tourism trips to Belgium and Germany. Based in San Francisco, he has curated beer programs at a dozen San Francisco restaurants and has helped launch three craft breweries.

In addition to working with restaurant, brewery, and distributor clients, he teaches beer and food education classes and Cicerone preparation courses, is a public speaker at and coordinator of events across the world, curates Beer of the Month Clubs, and runs corporate team-building seminars. Beyond his consultancy, he has spent ten years as a professional brewer and brewmaster, three years as the President of the San Francisco Brewers Guild, and three years as Event Director of SF Beer Week. Contact him at www.richhiggins.com.

Media inquiries: rich@richhiggins.com, 415-305-9248

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ABOUT BELMONT STATION, Portland’s premier beer destination and the most award-winning beer spot in the Northwest

Since its founding in 1997, Belmont Station has become Portland's premier beer destination. The Bottle Shop features 1,400+ beers, properly stored under UV-filtered light to maintain the freshest selection of beer in the region. The adjacent Biercafé features 35 rotating taps pouring world-class beer, cider and mead on the cleanest draft system in Portland.

Belmont Station hosts many events throughout the year, from Meet the Brewer nights to can release parties, and from simple in-store tastings to Puckerfest, an annual week-long celebration of sour and wild ales. Belmont Station is honored to have been selected for dozens of awards and accolades over the past 22 years.