WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — Pennsylvania College of Technology’s brewing and fermentation science instructor joined three other academic colleagues in delivering a talk at the three-day Master Brewers Conference, held recently in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
Timothy L. Yarrington presented “Brewing Education and Industry: Evolving Together” along with Katie Fromuth, fermentation science and technology lab manager at Colorado State University; Kaylyn Kirkpatrick, brewing extension associate at Cornell University; and Peter Johnston-Berresford, brewing instructor at Olds College in Alberta.
The talk explored brewing education in the context of the rapidly evolving North American brewing industry and discussed the development of diverse academic brewing programs.
Yarrington had been encouraged to submit a presentation proposal by a former president of the Master Brewers Association of the Americas (MBAA), which hosts the conference. The Penn College faculty member decided to invite fellow brewing educators to join him in the talk.
“My premise was to provoke more active dialogue between industry and educators to explore how we are evolving in parallel, and how we can create greater synergy,” Yarrington said.
The presentation also featured lively roundtable discussions stirring meaningful industry feedback, and Yarrington said the content gathered is being distilled into a report that will hopefully spark an MBAA-administered survey of industry attitudes toward educational programming.
“Attending and presenting at this conference was energizing,” Yarrington said. “It provided a lot of information that should help enrich and strengthen our brewing and fermentation science program. It also reinforced my confidence in Penn College’s commitment to a significant educational opportunity for students seeking careers in the brewing industry, whether in Pennsylvania, the U.S. or internationally.”
Yarrington graduated from the Master Brewers Program at the American School for Malting and Brewing Science and Technology, University of California, Davis, and passed the Institute of Brewing and Distilling Associate Membership Examination. He also holds a bachelor of science degree in wildlife science from Penn State.
He is founding brewer, head of brewing operations and brewmaster at Elk Creek Café + Ale Works in Millheim. Earlier in his brewing career, he captured gold and bronze medals at the Great American Beer Festival, held annually in Denver.
To learn more about brewing and fermentation science at Penn College, visit www.pct.edu/academics/shvc/brewing-fermentation-science.
For more about the college, a national leader in applied technology education, visit www.pct.edu, email admissions@pct.edu or call toll-free at 800-367-9222.