CHICAGO (WLS) -- The rise in popularity of craft beers is making people see it more like wine, pairing it with complementary foods and matching it to your mood. In response, Kendall College has added a new curriculum to its hospitality curriculum called beverage management.
Students 21 and older get to taste beer as part of class assignments.
"You got to taste a lot of different things," said Mark Shelton, a Kendall College student. "You got to understand how they are put together. You got to understand these are the structural components."
To bolster its program, Kendall College is partnering with the famed Siebel Institute of Technology. The 100-plus-year-old beer research and training institution counts among its alumni students with last names including Busch and Stroh. It's has moved on to Kendall's campus and will help train the next generation.
"We've gone into using unique ingredients, fruits and all sorts of different foods in beer. We've gone to extreme beers with high alcohol content, high bittering, all sorts of unique characteristics that wouldn't have even been considered 30 or 40 years ago and it's made beer more interesting for people," said Keith Lemcke, vice president of the Siebel Institute of Technology.
Students will learn the in's and out's of beer as a gourmet item, all with an eye toward helping patrons become beer connoisseurs.
The beverage management track will not only focus on beer. Students will also learn about wine, and the growing and brewing of coffee and tea.