Colorado State University’s Ramskeller Brewhouse is entering five student-brewed beers into competition at the Great American Beer Festival Sept. 21-23 in Denver.
The brewery inside CSU’s Lory Student Center crafted its most-ever yearly entries in part due to the Fermentation Science and Technology Program hiring graduate KC Lyons (’22).
“I was working as the Fermentation Science lead intern in my senior year when the FST team approached me and told me that they were thinking of hiring a full-time brewer to ramp up production and assist the leadership in normal operation,” Lyons said.
Fermentation science and technology, a major in CSU’s Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, teaches students the science behind food and beverage fermentation. The program has multiple lab spaces in the Gifford Building in addition to the Lory Student Center’s Ramskeller Brewhouse.
“The value that the students get upon graduation from their hands-on experiences is extremely useful in any industry and, simply put, it just gets the students jobs,” Lyons said. “I loved my time as a student and am happy that I get to help the program as faculty.”
Competition portfolio
Four brews are entered into the regular contest, and one is in the Pro-Am competition. The four standard entries are:
- CAM’s Tropical Vacation, a Tropical Hefeweizen, entered in the “Fruit Wheat Beer” category.
- Fungal Overlord, a Belgian Pale Ale, entered in the “Other Belgian-Style Ale or French-Style Ale” category.
- FoCoBoHo Pilsener, a Czech Pilsener, entered in the “Bohemian-Style Pilsener” category.
- FeSTivFall Vienna Lager entered in the “Vienna-Style Lager” category.
The Pro-Am beer is CAM’s Pro-Am Gold, a German Kolsch, brewed in collaboration with local award-winning homebrewer Terry Fast, based on Fast’s recipe and professionally scaled up for production. Contest results will be announced Sept. 23.
“All of these beers were crafted by me, our assistant brewer KC, and students in the FST program,” said Jeff Biegert, the New Belgium Brewing-sponsored FST instructor and brewmaster. “We submitted this many entries because we think these beers are excellent examples of the style categories.”
Drink a beer, help fund the FST
This semester began with three of the entries on tap at the Ramskeller – Tropical Hefeweizen, CAM’s Pro-Am Gold and FeSTivFall Vienna Lager. When people purchase a Ramskeller Brewhouse beer, it supports the FST program.
“The idea here is that we’re going to be able to fund KC’s position from the beer that we sell here at the Ramskeller,” Biegert said. “So, we are trying to ramp up some production. To brew a beer, it takes hours and hours of time and multiple hands, so we really needed him.”
There are FST graduates working at breweries all around Fort Collins and beyond, so returning to campus was natural for Lyons, who said he grew up in a family “steeped in beer.” He also said he was stationed in beer-loving San Diego when he served in the U.S. Navy.
“The FST Program prepared me to approach any technical brewing challenge in a calm and analytical way,” said Lyons. “Honestly, the lead intern position was a direct preparation for the position.”
Ramskeller beer at Canvas
Previously, the Ramskeller Brewhouse has made some beer available exclusively for the CSU president’s suite for football games at Canvas Stadium, but Biegert said CAM’s Pro-Am Gold could be available at home CSU football games later this season.
“We are a commercial brewery, so we are licensed to package and sell our beer wherever we can,” he said. “Last year, the beer we had in the president’s suite was a big hit. We would like to scale that up.”
Biegert said more production and more sales may mean the opportunity for additional positions for students, even if they work part-time. “We get them all trained and then they leave,” he said. “But it’s an opportunity for future students to be hands-on in a commercial brewing experience and also put that on their resume.”
The Fermentation, Science and Technology Program is in the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, part of CSU’s College of Health and Human Sciences.
BEER DISCUSSION ON TAP
Six experts will speak from 4-6:30 p.m. Sept. 28 during the Translational Talks series held in the Translational Medicine Institute at 2350 Gillette Drive in Fort Collins.
There will be a beer tasting and networking session from 5:10 until 6:30. That follows a panel discussion about improvements in the fermentation process that enhance quality and reduce environmental impacts.
The experts are Jeffrey Callaway, Todd Bandhauer, Tim Seitz, Charlie Hoxmeier, Charlene Van Buiten and Jeff Biegert. Translational Talks are open to all, but registration is required.
