How to Get Your Hands on Beer Brewed at the Culinary Institute

The Culinary Institute of America just started up their on-campus brewery, and you can sample all of their beers if you know where to go.

Hutch Kugeman is the head brewer at the CIA Brewery, where students not only learn about how beer is made, but also get to participate in the process. Hutch will be teaching bachelor-level students all about ingredients, equipment, and techniques used to create beer in a course, titled “The Art and Science of Brewing.” The program is designed to educate future restaurant owners and chefs about appreciating and properly incorporating craft beer in the culinary world.

One of the first beers to come out of the brewery is Cleaver IPA. The West Coast style IPA is a collaboration between Kugeman and Brooklyn Brewery's Garrett Oliver. There's alot of upfront hops and fruitiness without making the beer too bitter. It's 6.7%abv, which is about standard for a west coast IPA. Fans of Brooklyn Brewery's East IPA will notice some similarities, but Kugeman says as the classes get more involved in the brewing process the recipes will also continue to evolve.

Right now beers made on campus are available in The Egg, the CIA's incredible new student dining area. Visitors can stop by and purchase beers there, or at the American Bounty restaurant. Soon, American Bounty will be closed for renovations and a new tavern will be constructed. This will be another place where all of the on-campus beers will be available, along with pub-friendly food. Eventually the beers will available at all of the restaurants on campus, and possibly even the very popular Apple Pie Bakery.