Full-time presence course for prospective brewers

Next courses: 6 January to 27 June 2025 / 5 January to 26 June 2026
Course language: English

VLB’s flagship training course for prospective brewers is a six-month full-time programme providing in-depth understanding of brewing technology with its related major fields of engineering, filling/packaging and quality control. The course conveys all the knowledge necessary for the technical management of a brewery. Due to the high share of practical training lessons in our brewery and labs, the number of participants is limited. The language is English. All lectures will be held at VLB Berlin.

Brewmaster Course Outline

Each week contains about 30 lessons of lectures plus practical work. All important topic-related technology, engineering and quality aspects will be discussed. The latest knowledge from brewery practice and science is transferred. Each thematic block ends with written and practical examinations

The Berlin brewmaster education is focused on a comprehensive, practice-oriented knowledge transfer and on an open dialog with the lecturers. A reasonable group size for practical work guarantees an intensive and individual teaching environment.

Perfect opportunity for prospective brewing professionals

The course addresses individuals who desire professional qualification in brewing technology, either to enter the brewing industry or to advance within it. Therefore, practical brewing experience of at least three months is obligatory.
With its international reputation, many participants from overseas attend the course, plus the added benefit of establishing many worldwide connections and business relationships. The opportunities of the VLB Brewmaster course are frequently considered as a technical supplementary study for brewery employees and regarded as a stepping-stone towards a promising career. The course language is English and you can expect an intensive training with maximum benefit.

Location / Timeline

The course begins each year in January and ends with the exams at the end of June.

Course fee
The fee for the 6-months course in 2025 is € 17,500, including all course material. Your accommodation in Berlin has to be booked separately and we will provide some useful web links. A non-refundable deposit of € 2,500 is due at the time of acceptance to the programme. The total balance is due by 18 November 2024 at the latest. The fee can be paid by bank transfer or credit card.

Major topics to be covered

• Biochemistry
• Brewery arithmetics & statistics
• Brewery operations & resource management
• Brewing technology (wort production / cooling & pitching / fermentation / maturation / filtration & stabilization)
• Chemistry & chemical-technical analyses
• Economics: Accounting, financing, business planning, cost calculations
• Energy and utilities
• Hop brewing seminar
• Logistics: Warehouse systems, technical equipment, load safety, returnable systems
• Malting technology & malting equipment
• Microbiology: Microscopy, microorganisms (yeast, bacteria, molds), microbiological techniques, analyses
• Plant Equipment - CIP, auxiliary systems and fermenters
• Plant Equipment - Brewhouse
• Plant Equipment - Filtration
• Plant Equipment - Packaging and filling
• Raw materials: Barley
• Raw materials: Hops
• Raw materials: Brewing water
• Recipe development
• Sensory analysis
• Special beers, e.g. Berliner Weisse, alcohol-free beer
• Technology of soft drinks
• Tutorials & desktop studies
• Waste water treatment

Practical work in our training labs & pilot brewing & malting plants

• Brewing trails (in our 5 hl and 2 hl pilot plants)
• Filtration
• Hop brewing contest
• Filling & packaging: Bottle cleaning & inspection / filling / packaging
• Chemical-technical analyses (Anton Paar Lab)
• Dispensing (Micro Matic Tap Room)
• Logistics
• Malting technology (pilot malting)
• Microbiology & sampling
• Process automation (Braumat Lab)
• Plant equipment
• Sensory analysis

Schedule subject to minor changes

Examinations & Certificate

Each thematic block ends with written and practical examinations. The applicant has to attend the lectures and practical work regularly for admission to the exams. A certificate will be issued when all mandatory exams have been taken successfully. If the exam in brewing technology is failed or if more than two exams are failed, the overall course is rated as “not passed” and the participant will only receive a confirmation of attendance.

Regulations for VLB
Participant undertake neither to pass on our provided teaching materials to third parties nor to copy or record lecture content.

Next course
Monday 6th January – Friday 27th June 2025 on site at VLB Berlin → Register Now!

Our Brewing Plant

Microbiological training lab

Foyer / Entry hall