A1F_MENT
Tuesday, August 31,1999___Page: 11_
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Budweiser brewmasters treat students to an education in the history and art of beer
By Josh Krauter
Senior staff writer
He is the man who makes sure your beer
tastes fresh.
He is constantly looking for innovations in
the field of beer brewing.
And he is the reason high school kids drive
all over town on weekends searching for their
older brothers or sisters.
He is the brewmaster.
Two brewmasters are at the Nebraska State
Fair all week to teach the basics of beer brewing
to anyone 21 and over at the Budweiser Beer
School.
The school is actually two 53-foot long trac
tor-trailers that join together to create the Beer
School classroom.
Once inside, the beer student sits in a nice,
comfy chair in front of a 3-D replica of the
Anheuser-Busch brewing facilities. The beer
masters introduce themselves and guide you
through the brewing process.
All students get to taste freshly brewed
Budweiser, which tastes much better than the
old swill on tap at most bars. Then, Bud that’s
been sitting around the fridge for a few weeks is
brought out to give the student a comparison.
Surprisingly enough, it tasted like the old
swill on tap at most bars.
The students also have to swallow a lit
tle corporate rhetoric with their beer.
A few short films are shown, which
portray company founder Adolphus
Busch and his successors
August Busch I-IV as great American heroes
on par with Abraham Lincoln, Martin
Luther King Jr. and Mr. T.
Prohibition is portrayed as
merely a minor annoyance in
which the company
expanded its lineup to
include non-alcoholic
beer. Just 16 short years
later, it was back to making
real beer again.
However, the brewmasters
saved the day. They left the
capitalist jingoism to the
films and talked plainly
about what they love best:
the brewing of beer.
Brewmaster Bob Bergeron has
been teaching at the Beer School
since 1996, after retiring from
the Anheuser-Busch brewery
k in 1994. He worked as a
brewmaster for Bud brew
eries in New York,
Bk Virginia, Georgia,
Texas and California.
He loves brewing beer.
I I “You get your hands in
I K it. You get to smell it. You
fr get to taste it,” he said.
nS Bergeron says the best
i ay part of the job is being satis
h23 fied with the taste of the beer
l\ after a long day’s work.
/\nu li lie s nui sails
fied with the taste?
“You have a
N chance to
change
things.
Brewing is an art.”
If brewing is an art, it is an art with a long
history.
Bergeron punctuates most of his comments
with anecdotes, facts and figures about the his
tory of beer. He talks about monks who asked
the Vatican if their extra-strong beer was sinful,
the difference between lager and ale and the
inconsistency of old fermentation techniques.
“In the old days, fermentation depended on
the weather,” he said. “They never made the
same brew twice. Today, a brewmaster can take
a beer and do it over and over again with the
same quality.”
So, what exactly does a brewmaster do at the
Anheuser-Busch breweries?
Bergeron said a typical day begins with a
look at the lab reports. Brewmasters have to
have a thorough knowledge of chemistry, he
said, and most brewmasters have a chemistry
degree. ^
Beer samples are taken to the lab every hour
and analyzed. The brewmaster also oversees
management and makes sure everything is run
ning smoothly.
Every afternoon, either a brewmaster or a
foreman tastes the beers, from lightest to dark
est, to make sure the taste and consistency arc
there. Afterward, the taster blows into an analyz
er to make sure he or she can make it home.
Bergeron doesn’t have to worry about mak
ing it home much anymore. He has been travel
ing throughout the country with the Beer School
for three years, including a stop at the ’96
^ Please see BREW on 12
Comedian brings humor to plights of masculinity
■ With a one-man show,
Christopher Kilmartin
informs with ‘Crimes
Against Humanity.’
By Emily Pyeatt
Staff writer
It’s not easy being a man.
Puberty, homophobia, sex educa
tion, images of traditional masculinity
- the assault never ends.
But Christopher Kilmartin wants
to explore these topics in a humorous
way.
Kilmartin, an author and comedi
an, brings his national tour of “Crimes
Against Nature” to the University of
Nebraska-Lincoln tomorrow.
The free performance confronts
the pressures of masculinity with
humor in a personal style.
“Crimes Against Nature” stretch
es the boundaries of traditional mas
culinity through the use of contradic
tion and comedy.
Kilmartin depicts the demands of
masculinity through the use of per
sonal experiences, which include var
ious trials in adolescence, puberty,
homophobia, sex education and even
the introduction to drag queens.
Kilmartin serves as an associate
professor of psychology at Mary
Washington College in
Fredericksburg, Va.
In addition to writing about men’s
psychology, Kilmartin has been a
stand-up comedian since 1985.
“In the early ’80s, stand-up come
dy was booming, and I took an inter
est in becoming a performer,”
Kilmartin said.
After performing at various open
mike nights and winning several ama
teur contests, Kilmartin was offered
paying gigs.
Eventually, Kilmartin began to
target college audiences with his
work. He became an “infotainer,” per
forming in order to educate audiences
about men's issues and sexual assault.
“Colleges and universities were
interested in bringing me to campus
because I could talk about serious
issues in entertaining but respectful
ways,” he said.
Kilmartin’s “Crimes Against
Nature” tour is the result of a creative
collaboration with colleague Gregg
Stull, an assistant professor of theater
at Mary Washington College.
Kilmartin was inspired by the one
woman performances of Holly
Hughes. Combining this inspiration
with Gregg Stull’s theatrical knowl
edge, the two created the production
of “Crimes Against Nature.”
“For me, (‘Crimes Against
Nature’) is an integration of my schol
arly interest in men’s issues, my teach
ing experience and my performance
hobby,” Kilmartin said. “Although the
whole project was only about a year
from start to finish, I sometimes tell
people that I’ve been writing this
piece for 15 years, but I just didn’t
know that I was writing it.”
Since the debut of “Crimes
Against Nature” in March 1998, the
show’s popularity has spread nation
Theatre Preview
The Facts
What: “Crimes Against Nature”
Where: Nebraska Union Auditorium !
When: 7 p.m. Wednesday
The Skinny: One-man show explores
the demands of masculinity.
_i
wide. Kilmartin will perform on 25
other campuses between now and
November.
Pat Tetreault, the University
Health Center sexuality education
coordinator, said the play educates
people about social andgender issues
Please see CRIMES on 12