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A frosty beer being poured from a tap.

School of Brews Teaches How to Go Pro

Master Brewer Academy is there for the drinker with big dreams

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Todd Space eschews the title of “master.” Officially, he will remind you between sips, his title is director of education. But as the founder of the Master Brewer Academy, Miami (MBA), which is now in its sixth year, he is known in many South Florida breweries as the master of masters. His students have gone on to shape what we’re drinking.

Let the parochial pupil limit their studies to the classroom; for the broad-minded Biscayne Tippler, even the bar can provide an opportunity for learning – and sometimes, it can be the more enriching and educational option.

“In my former life, I was a high school science teacher,” said Space. “I was curious about learning this stuff myself and started looking into other programs – one at UC Davis, one in Chicago – and there weren’t that many out there. And then I started thinking, ‘What if I just started designing a curriculum?’

“I’d use brewers as professors and I’d present the science of brewing the right way. Then I started talking to a few local breweries to see if I could use their brick-and-mortar locations as working classrooms.”

That was in 2014. Space, who has a B.A. in biology and an M.A. in educational leadership, had already followed his passion for good beer out of the classroom and into the workspace as the lab tech at the M.I.A. Beer Company in Doral. But he realized he had all the ingredients to brew up something new: a South Florida institution of higher learning.

And now?

“My most recent class finished just before last Thanksgiving,” said Space. “Three of four students found jobs in the industry through doing the program.”

One recent MBA grad is now working as an assistant at EST.33, where Space happens to be head brewer. Another is the cellarmaster at Prison Pals Brewing Co. in Doral. But everyone who graduates from the program comes away with a certificate of completion and a deeper understanding of the science behind what goes on inside the fermenting tank.

School for Brew

For someone curious about taking the first steps into the wide world of brewing your own beer, Space recommends buying a kit and seeing what you can do over a weekend. MBA is aimed at the next step after that: cultivating a beer expert.

Space says his students fall into three categories. The first group are those already in the industry who want to be better at what they do and want to know why certain things happen – the science of zymurgy, the study of fermentation.

In the second are those entrepreneurs who think they might want to start their own brewery but aren’t sure. In 11 months, they’ll get the chance to spend time inside several existing breweries in South Florida and see how each of them actually works and why.

The third group are people who “straight up want to get a foot in the door,” said Space. Classes bring together people interested in beer making with companies who make beer, so connections are natural.

Some established breweries might keep one ingredient or element of their system secret while hosting the hands-on coursework, but for the most part they’re happy to give overviews of each process that goes into making different styles of beer.

“We want to build a community. We want all the beer down here to be delicious,” said Space.

Fermentation Time

The core program offered by MBA takes 11 months to complete. Participants meet nights and weekends, with some breaks, from January to November. But it’s possible for someone curious to get in touch and audit a session to see what it’s like.

Students spend the first four months on the science of brewing – how yeast turns grain and water into beer. Space’s syllabus includes topics with names like “Wort Chemistry (Hops).”

“It’ll blow your mind,” he said. “It’s meant to change the way you think about beer.”

The next three months are dedicated to technology, including special equipment for sanitizing your work and packaging the final product.

“Maintenance is most of what you’re doing,” Space explained. “Making beer is really 20% brewing, 70% cleaning and 10% fixing equipment. It gets to where every time something breaks in class, everyone just looks up and says, ‘Teachable moment!’ at the same time.”

A third module is dedicated to short internships with local breweries and the program ends with an “advanced topics” section that includes everything from business advice to developing recipes for new brews.

A Place for Suds

Ultimately, the goal is to keep the local craft brewing scene strong and creative.

“When we started, there were maybe six to 10 breweries operating down here,” said Space. “Now there are around 30 breweries in Broward and Dade. Each one has its own niche.”

He added that with all the places creating great beer in Miami, “You’re not going to find one favorite brewery, but several.”

Because MBA works closely with local creators, and because Space is so enthusiastic about the art of brewing, the material can go beyond beer as well.

“In one topic, we can go to some different places when we get a presenter steeped in that knowledge,” Space said. “Like, for example, at Biscayne Bay Brewing, there’s a brewer who’s really into mead. We can get into distillation, where we’ll go up to ChainBridge Distillery in Oakland Park, or go down to Big Cypress with (head distiller) Fernando (Plata). And, you know, I’ve gotten to know a couple of kombucha breweries.”

The Biscayne Corridor is the perfect place for a brewer because it’s a great place to drink beer, Space says.

“You’re stressed out in traffic, you’re working hard to make rent, but the weather is always nice, so you just wanna have a beer,” he chuckled.

Continuing Cocktail Education

Workshops and tastings are a regular feature of local lounges and distilleries like Miami Club Rum and Big Cypress. But for more in-depth instruction, aspiring spirits scholars will want to hone their craft at the following locations:

  • Florida Wine Academy teaches about wines, of course, but also the finer points of sake and spirits. FloridaWineAcademy.com