Online brewing courses and how to judge if one is worth it

Start with what you want the course to do

Before comparing courses, decide what you need. Someone who wants to brew better at home needs different things from someone trying to get a job in a brewpub, or a professional preparing for an exam. A course that is ideal for one can be a waste of money for another.

Write down one sentence: "After this course I want to be able to..." If the answer is "design my own recipes and hit my target gravity", look for practical calculation and recipe work. If it is "get hired as an assistant brewer", look for process, hygiene and safety. If it is "pass an exam", look for a course built around that syllabus.

Who is teaching matters most

The single best predictor of a good course is the teacher. Look for someone who has worked in a production brewery, not only someone who has a channel or a good camera. Check their background. Have they brewed commercially? Do they hold recognised qualifications such as those from the Institute of Brewing and Distilling? Can you find their work outside the course?

A working brewer teaches the details a textbook leaves out: why a lauter sticks, what a stuck fermentation smells like, how to clean a heat exchanger. Those details are what make the difference on your first day in a brewery.

Live teaching or recorded videos

Recorded courses are cheap and flexible. Their weakness is that nobody answers your question when you get stuck. Brewing is full of "it depends" moments. A video cannot tell you what it depends on for your water, your kit and your yeast.

Live courses cost more and fix a time in your week. In return you can ask questions, hear other students' questions and get feedback on your work. A small class matters here. In a group of 200, you will not get much attention. In a group of 20, you will. Many good courses combine both: live sessions for teaching and discussion, recordings for revision.

Check the timing too. A course that runs at 3 a.m. Indian time because the teacher is in another continent will be hard to attend live, however good it is. Weekend sessions suit most working people in India, including brewers on weekday shifts, though brewers on rotating shifts should check the recordings policy before they pay.

Read the syllabus line by line

A vague syllabus is a warning sign. "Learn everything about brewing" says nothing. A useful syllabus names topics and outcomes. Look for specifics like these:

• Mash temperature and its effect on fermentability, around 62 to 72 °C.
• Calculating alcohol from gravity, for example ABV = (OG - FG) x 131.25.
• Hop utilisation and bitterness.
• Yeast pitching rates, fermentation temperature and off-flavours.
• Cleaning, sanitation and brewery safety.

If you cannot tell from the syllabus what you will be able to do at the end, ask. A good provider will answer clearly.

Assessment and certificates

Assignments matter more than certificates. A course that sets real work each week, such as a recipe to design, a calculation to do or a tasting to write up, forces you to use what you learned. One that only asks you to watch is easy to finish and easy to forget.

Be clear about what a certificate means. A course certificate shows you completed that course. It is not the same as a recognised industry qualification such as an IBD certificate, a Cicerone level or a BJCP rank. Our guide to brewing certifications explains the main ones. Both have value, but employers know the difference and so should you.

Red flags to watch for

• Promises of guaranteed jobs or placement.
• No named teacher, or a teacher with no brewery background you can check.
• A syllabus that is mostly history and styles with little process.
• No way to ask questions.
• Pressure to pay today for a discount that never seems to end.

None of these proves a course is bad, but together they should make you cautious.

Making the course pay off

Even a good course only works if you use it. Brew or practise alongside it. Keep notes. Apply each topic to a real beer, whether at home or at work. Ask the questions you are embarrassed to ask, because someone else in the class has the same one.

Your first step: take the course you are considering, pick three lines from its syllabus and email the provider to ask exactly what you will be able to do after each. The quality of the reply tells you a lot.

Common questions

Are online brewing courses worth it?

A good one can be, if it is taught by an experienced brewer, has a clear syllabus, includes live teaching or feedback and sets real assignments. Price alone is a poor guide.

Is a course certificate the same as a brewing qualification?

No. A course certificate shows you completed that course. Industry qualifications such as IBD certificates, Cicerone levels or BJCP ranks are set and examined by those bodies.

Are live classes better than recorded videos?

Live classes let you ask questions and get feedback, which matters in brewing. Recordings are useful for revision. Many good courses combine both.