The Pink Boots Society is proud to announce that Erika Raye, Analytical Lab Technician at White Labs, 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 Erika to receive this scholarship as she, “has a passion for learning and demonstrates great involvement with PBS in terms of organizing events and volunteering. She is well spoken, excited with a clear vision of where she wants to go and how this course will assist her.”

Erika moved to San Diego after graduating with a chemistry degree, intending to use it to become an analytical chemist for a winery. Upon discovering the brewing scene she realized that was where she needed to be and she began working at a brand new nano brewery where she says, “the brewer taught me all that he knew about beer and brewing, whether it was giving me books to read or taking me to as many tasting rooms as he could, we were always working on my “beer education.” A year later she was enrolled in UC San Diego’s Extension program to earn a professional certificate in Craft Beer and Brewing, with her next goal being to pass the Certified Cicerone exam. She is looking forward to this scholarship course being extremely helpful in helping her achieve that goal.

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, Erika will receive a pair of pink steel-toe rubber boots when she fulfills the Pay It Forward requirement associated with the scholarship.