OSU Origins of Beer Flavor and Styles Scholarship Recipient Announced
The Pink Boots Society is proud to announce that Alethea Smartt is the recipient of the Oregon State University Origins of Beer Flavors and Styles scholarship.
Chosen by the PBS Scholarship Selection Committee (SSC), five very experienced women beer professionals who hold positions as brewers, educators and writers, they chose Alethea to receive this scholarship due to her position, “as a writer and business owner heavily enmeshed in the brewing industry,” feeling that “she would benefit the most from this course,” improving, “her writing which will have far reaching effects” and increasing her, “understanding of basic style and flavor profiles that would lend well to her work.”
Alethea is a small business consultant in Portland, Ore. currently working with a beer industry client to improve their website, add eCommerce, identify sales and marketing opportunities, and increase product awareness by attending festivals and other events. She is also a writer for online and print publications who has, “been drinking beer for practically my entire life” but says, “I tend to shy away from opportunities to judge or to discuss beer in more technical terms.” In order to increase her proficiency in identifying specific flavors and aromas and the overall process of making beer she has plans to start homebrewing and recently decided to become Cicerone certified. Regarding the course she says, “I felt like the timing was more than coincidence as this course would be invaluable in preparing me for the Cicerone exam.”
The Oregon State University Professional and Continuing Education Origins of Beer Flavors and Styles course is a two-day onsite course that will examine the origins of beer flavor from raw materials and brewing techniques, how beer flavor and aroma are developed within brewing, raw ingredients and then ultimately transformed by yeast during fermentation through multiple beer tastings and discussions. Attendees will also learn the sensory methodology and aroma standards used by professionals in the brewing industry to analyze beer quality and to identify beer flavor defects and their causes during the brewing process.
In addition to attending the course, Alethea will receive a pair of pink steel-toe rubber boots when she fulfills the Pay It Forward requirement associated with the scholarship.
