Micro education

If there’s one thing Portland needs, it’s more signature brews.

At least that is the opinion of Zak White and Ben Higgins, two students in the process of co-founding PSBrew, a new student group devoted to the education of fermentation and brewing.

Still pending approval from Student Activities and Leadership Programs to become an official group, these ambitious engineering students already have big plans for upcoming events, as well as aspirations for the group itself.

They plan for it to be a “cooperative-style brewing system,” meaning they have yet to acquire any of the necessary equipment, or a place to house it.

“Starting this group is my attempt to help lay down some kind of foundation and framework needed to study the ever-growing science of malting and fermentation that is such a big part of the culture of Portland,” Higgins said.

The guys aim to hold an initial meet and greet for potential members as soon as they receive approval, and hopefully to spread the word to local established breweries for support. Additionally, Higgins expressed interest in perfecting their craft to the point of being a worthy opponent in local home-brewing competitions.

“It’s a very competitive industry right now, regardless of what you know,” he said.

When it comes to legality issues, PSBrew has a few boundaries. The potential for on-campus tastings is appealing, but Ben and Zak would have quite a few hoops to jump through. The club would essentially need to function as a legitimate brewery—by obtaining a brewery license for a space yet-to-be determined, and promising to make large quantities of beers containing no more than the standard eight points of alcohol per volume.

Acquiring this license would be the biggest issue and, according to White, “PSU doesn’t exactly make it easy to do that.”

On the positive side, home brewing is not a crime. As long as the brews are not being sold or distributed in any way, the club can function license-free. Furthermore, this club is open to fermentation aficionados of all ages, giving opportunity to those students under the legal age the chance to learn about the process as well.

“We are about quality, not quantity,” Higgins said.

The downside is these underage students would not be allowed to attend certain off-campus club activities, such as tastings at breweries, wineries and even the sake brewery PSBrew plans to visit.

“We want to open this up to people who are under 21,” White said. “We want to keep our doors open to people interested in the process, but at the same time we have liability.”

The duo remain hopeful that the club will be a success, creating the possibility for some beer-themed events in the Park Blocks involving other student groups and brewery support. Higgins said they have big dreams.

“One of our main goals as a student group is to gain enough student, faculty and community interest in the science of brewing in hopes that, in the future, students may be able to do coursework at PDX for a degree program based on the field,” he said.

White and Higgins also mentioned turning out some PSBrew merchandise in the near future to help spread the word and gain some new members. Any students interested in more information on PSBrew can contact the club at [email protected].