UW-Platteville students will be displaying their talents in the art of brewing May 1-2 for the campus community. Since Spring 2007, the UW-P Home Brewing Club has provided a forum for people who are interested in the process, styles and techniques of the brewing of beer, wine and any other alcoholic beverage.

Beth Frieders, professor of biology and adviser for the Home Brewing Club, said that not only is the group formed to provide a forum for people to learn about the process of brewing, but to allow them to learn the process of home brewing, to schedule visits and field trips to companies in the brewing industry and to allow social activities and events for the membership.

“All of our members have come from word of mouth, with few people on campus knowing that we exist,” Frieders said  in an e-mail. “Some already brew and others are interested in starting but not sure how. In this club they can learn how to brew, and share information with others who brew.”

Frieders said that she hopes the activities this weekend will educate the public about alcohol.

“First and foremost, we promote that home brewing is about the art and craft of brewing, not about consumption (or over-consumption),” Frieders said in an e-mail. “These events are intended to highlight this, as well as educate the public on the brewing process itself.”

The promotion of the microbrewery inside the Pioneer Haus as well as the two brews that are made by Tom Nickels, the brew master, will be highlighted during the two-day event.  Nickels brews two different types of beers in the microbrewery and both are served in the Pioneer Haus.

On May 1, there will be a tour of the Pioneer Haus’s brewery as well as a christening of a new tap recipe at 4 p.m.  The third tap was added to the Pioneer Haus and will change seasonally from month to month.  The recipe that was selected for the first specialty is called Heifer-Bison, a traditional German Hefeweizen style of wheat beer.

There will be a demonstration of how to make beer at 11 a.m. on May 2  at the south side of the Pioneer Student Center. The club will be brewing a batch of beer and a batch of root beer throughout the day.

“It’s been through the help and support of a lot of people that we have been fortunate enough to hold events such as these,” Russell Goessl, senior mechanical engineering, said.  “There are many people outside the club that we owe a lot of thanks to.”

For more information on the club or the event, visit their Web site at groups.google.com/group/UWP_HOMEBREW or do a search for their Facebook group by typing “UWP Homebrewing Club”.