San José State University Hospitality Management students hosted a Beers Around the World Tradeshow Nov. 13 that was open to SJSU faculty, staff and students over the age of 21 along with invited guests.
Participation in the tradeshow is worth 25 percent of their grades for students enrolled in HSPM 148 Beer Appreciation this semester and also serves as a class project for students enrolled in HSPM 140 Meetings and Event Management. Many of the students in beer appreciation showed up with well-researched visuals along with at least two samples from their assigned brewing region or country while those in meetings and events management coordinated guest check in, concessions and other logistics.
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- Students in the SJSU Beer Appreciation class hosted a Beers Around the World event Nov. 13. Here two students talk with guests about Japanese beers.
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- Hospitality Management Professor Kate Sullivan, center right, poses for a photo with some of the students in her beer appreciation class who represented Scotland.
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- A beer appreciation student helps a guest select a Scottish beer to sample at the Beers Around the World event Nov. 13, hosted by San Jose State University’s Hospitality Management department.
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- Doug Lukanc, right, talked with a guest about Oregon breweries at the SJSU Beer Appreciation class’ Beers Around the World Event Nov. 13.
The students hosted the fall event at the Glasshouse, an event venue on Market Street in downtown San Jose, with guests paying $5 admission for 5 beer tastings or $10 for 13 tastings.
Marylou Zuniga, a hospitality management student who works in the hotel industry, said she took the beer appreciation course because it is an elective for her major.
“I learned about the brewery processing and we took tours of breweries,” she said. “We had tastings in class. I thought I knew what kind of beer I liked, but now that I’m educated I realize I love dark beers.”
Zuniga, whose group represented Denmark, said learning about food and beer tastings will especially help her in her career goals in the hotel industry.
“I know what beers go with different food based on taste and style,” she said.
The student groups were charged with finding at least two beers from their country or region and they also put together a food pairing. Denmark’s group served salami, cheese and cookies with its Carlsberg Lager and Elephant beer.
“Carlsberg has a monopoly in Denmark because (the country) is so small,” Zuniga said.
Doug Lukanc, an Aerosapce Engineering major, said he took the class to have the opportunity to try a wide variety of beers.
“The class is a great way to explore nicer beers rather than just the cheap stuff,” he said.
Lukanc and his partners featured Oregon brews, complete with a slideshow presentation set up on an iPad to inform guests about the region.
Lukanc said one of the interesting parts of the class was getting to try some East Coast beers that are not available for sale on the West Coast because Professor Kate Sullivan was able to get them. At the event, his group shared a chocolate stout made by Rogue Ales and Deschutes’ Fresh Squeezed IPA.
“I learned that some beers I thought I liked, I don’t and others I thought I didn’t, I actually do like,” he said. “I gained a lot of knowledge on how beer is made – the wheat that is added changes it. The water that is added changes it, the yeast and the hops. It’s a complexity that adjusts the flavors.”
At the event, the beer presenters competed for judges’ choice and people’s choice award based on their presentation, beer selection and food pairings. Japan, England and Mexico were selected by the judges and Japan, which served sushi with its two beer selections, won people’s choice.