A Taste of College Knowledge: The Queen’s Head Beer School

Forget AlcoholEdu or bedroom doors-cum-beer pong tables. Harvard students can now get a proper education in the art of beer.

Approximately 55 students gathered this past Saturday for the inaugural session of “Beer School,” an event sponsored by the Cambridge Queen’s Head pub. The school aims to “extend the knowledge about beer” among Harvard students says Philip “Beamer” R. Eisele ’08, a student manager at the pub.

At the presentation, Jaime C. Schier, representative from Boston-based Harpoon Brewery, enlightened students about the origins of beer, and its importance to historical—not just college—culture.

Diana L. Link ’08, a student who attended the 1.5-hour lesson, “enjoyed the specifics he went into.” Students had a chance to take a hands-on approach, by chewing malted barley seeds in their mouths to begin a chemical reaction used in the production of beer.

Eisele, who calls the Beer School his “baby”, hopes that the gathering—one of several tentatively scheduled for the year—will show students that beer is a “legitimate drink.” “You don’t have to drink wine for the rest of your public life,” Eisele says.

Indeed, for the true connoisseurs, beer can become your life. As an explanation for his unusual occupation, Schier says, “Real jobs suck with alarming regularity.” Indeed.

Perhaps Harvard students should consider promoting beer from mere weekend hobby to lifelong obsession.