Picture a science classroom with a
large pot of water, held at a stable temperature, steaming away on a burner.
Given supplies of malted grains, hops, and other ingredients, students are
offered the opportunity to select a mixture of their own to steep, boil, and
eventually ferment. With a set of basic instructions and the guidance of a
mentor, the students proceed through the steps of bottling tasty concoctions of
their own creation. Sounds like a dream class, right?
Due to personal liability concerns
and pesky state & federal laws, such a lesson likely will not be part of
the science curriculum at the Montessori School of Dayton anytime soon.
However, MSD will be opening its doors on January 31st to the
community for the 4th-annual Dayton
Brew Ha-Ha, the school’s now-annual craft beer fundraiser. Adult brewers
from across the state of Ohio will be demonstrating their individual masteries
of the brewing process.
“The Brew Ha-Ha contributes to the
capital improvement fund and has contributed to much-needed upgrades such as a
new gym floor, energy-efficient windows, and a new HVAC system,” said Kevin
Gray, co-founder of the event, alpha beer writer at the Dayton City Paper, and
parent of three students at MSD. “Also, you can drink beer in an elementary
school!”
Gray, along with two other MSD
parents -- Brandy Gorham and Mike Taylor -- tri-chairs and coordinates the
event. They see the Brew Ha-Ha as an opportunity for community members to
mingle, sample, and learn about the worlds of craft brewing and Montessori
education. “It’s fun to be able to describe beer to people and see their faces
when they taste something new for the first time,” added Gorham. “I also
enjoy the look on my friend’s faces when I tell them that my kid’s school is
having a craft beer festival as a fundraiser, then being able to explain
Montessori to them…that it’s not just a place where children go to ‘play’ all
day. ”
The Montessori education model
revolves around “discovery-based” lessons where students are offered a personal
choice of subject matter, an array of materials, and the freedom to explore and
create within a broad set of boundaries. There are no objective letter grades
and students learn at their own pace. Assessment is based on accomplishment and
a student’s demonstration of skills and maturity.
“For example,” proudly explained Gorham, “my
son is gifted in math. He is learning algebra in fourth grade, but when he
started first grade, he was behind in reading, so they provided him a tutor. Now
he reads at a fifth or sixth grade level. They also teach very concretely. Math
is taught [to young children] by working with beads and understanding
physically how it works, not just writing numbers on paper…toddlers use items
from shelves [in their lessons] from left to right and top to bottom, which
prepares them for reading.”
MSD was seeking a fundraising
opportunity for the aforementioned improvements to the facility, so parents at
the school followed the spirit of their childrens’ classroom experience, where
collaboration and common interest so often lead to inspiration.
Why something beer-themed?
Montessori education has more in common with craft brewing than it might
initially seem. As anyone who’s ever stood over a brew kettle can tell you,
craft brewers follow a similar learning-by-doing process as they’re honing
personal techniques and building beermaking skills. (Traditional definitions of
“maturity,” however, are typically considered gauche among brewers.)
“There are a lot of craft beer geek
parents at the school,” Gray related. “In late 2011, some likeminded parents
and the school administrators decided to try our hands at a beer tasting. It
came together in about 8 weeks and we held [the first Brew Ha-Ha] in January
2012. Although the first one was modest, [everyone had] a lot of fun and it was
well received by the community. Attendance has steadily increased and last
year, we saw our first sell-out crowd.”
While the somewhat mischievous
notion of legally sampling beers in a school setting undoubtedly adds to the
appeal of the event, the real draw is the beer. “We’ve always focused on
regional beers…the first two years, we featured beers from the Great Lake
states. [We invited brewers] from Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Illinois, and
Indiana,” said Gray. “Last year, we realized that the Ohio market was so strong
that we could pit it against the legendary MI market and had our first Ohio vs.
Michigan showdown.”
The continued explosion of the
region’s craft brewing gave the Brew Ha-Ha crew the opportunity to score a
special distinction. The 4th Annual Brew Ha-Ha is the first beer
festival in the Buckeye State to feature an All-Ohio lineup of breweries. “The state
now has about 103 breweries, and we’ll be featuring 40 of them,” Gray added. “The
Miami Valley breweries will be there, and many are reserving or brewing up
special beers for the event. We are also excited to feature a number of
breweries from around the state that aren't readily available in Dayton.”
Over 40 craft brewers will be
participating in this year’s tasting, including Dayton-area brewers Carillon
Brewing Company, Dayton Brewing Company, Fifth Street Brewpub, Eudora, Hairless
Hare, Lock 27, Lucky Star, Star City, Toxic Brew Company, Warped Wing, and
Yellow Spring Brewery.
One of the pleasantly unique
elements of the event was initiated last year and expanded upon this year is
the Brew Ha-Ha’s focus on education for craft beer newbies. “I try to remember
how intimidated I felt when I first started learning about craft beer,” mused
Taylor as he explained the event’s ambassador program, “The ambassador looks
for people who seem confused or don't know what to try next. We engage them in
conversation to find out what they like and direct them to another selection or
introduce them to a new style they may have never tried. I still get a kick out
of seeing people try new things and really enjoying the recommendation.” This
year, the ambassadors will provide guides to the event broken down by beer
flavor profile, so attendees who find a quaff they truly enjoy will be able to
easily locate other selections which may tickle their fancy.
In addition, Gray uses his
near-encyclopedic knowledge of beer to get the other parent volunteers up to
speed on what they’ll be pouring. “I have [the volunteers] try a representative
sample of the styles of beer we'll be serving and I give them some information
about the beer styles, process, etc. I run through the full list…so that the
servers can talk about the beers they are pouring and can recommend other
beers.” The parental volunteers are then paired with representatives from the
event’s sponsors, which are all well-known Dayton craft beer supporters.
Dayton’s largest local homebrew
club, The Dayton Region Amateur Fermentation Technologists (DRAFT), also gets
in on the act. DRAFT volunteers talk with attendees about the brewing process
and act as an avenue for prospective homebrewers to get more information. BrewTensils,
the area's largest homebrew shop, created “clonebrew” recipes for homebrewers
to replicate some of the event’s featured beers.
While the number of attendees has
grown each year, ticket sales are capped at 400 to maintain the boutique feel
of the event and to allow attendees to converse with the ambassadors and learn
from the representatives of the various brewing operations. “I think this level of knowledge and
interaction has set us apart from many of the other massive beer tasting
events,” Taylor said with a smile. “I think our attention to detail, supporting
local, and providing craft beers that are accessible here in Dayton [and
beyond] makes me feel proud. We have worked hard to make our event a ‘must
attend,’ and I think we've been successful.”
All three chairs acknowledged the
challenges of trying to put together a large event like this are magnified
because the small organizing team have their other full time work and familial
responsibilities, especially right after the holidays. “Kevin and I used to do
everything,” Taylor explained, “But now we’ve learned you need lots of help. The
event has grown from 167 people to nearly 425 last year. We now coordinate
45-50 volunteers, sponsor table volunteers and all the various vendors and
distributors. With so many Ohio breweries
self-distributing, this has added a new level of coordination, but in the end I
think it will all be worth it to bring 40 Ohio breweries together in one
location.” Gorham added, “I’ve been a volunteer for the event ever since the
first year, and every year my responsibilities have increased. Last year
I noticed that the guys were struggling to get everything done, so I
volunteered to help take on some of the burden on as well,” said Gorham, “I’m
an engineer, so my strength is in project management. I also ensure that
we are meeting as a committee on a regular basis. Nothing like a meeting
to make sure we all have our action items done from the last one!”
Even though the kids at the school are not directly involved
with the event, they find other ways to participate. “They love the idea [of
the Brew Ha-Ha] but are bummed that they can't participate in some way,” said
Taylor. “We give them small tasks like making pretzel necklaces and helping to
wash all the tasting glasses, which we hope makes them feel somewhat involved.”
Gray says that his three kids love the event and get excited every year. “We
usually have the gym set up Thursday or Friday before the event
and it's exciting to hear my kids come home and tell me about how it looks.”
Gorham puts on the volunteers’ after-party, which her two kids take great
pleasure in “hosting.” “Any volunteers that are interested show up for some
social time. We all talk about the event and share what went well.
My kids love having everyone over to ‘their’ house.”
Tickets for the event are $35 –
which includes admission to the event, a half-pint tasting glass, and ten
tasting tickets. Taylor, who heads up the publicity and promotions for the
event, is quite pleased by the Brew Ha-Ha’s expansion. “We started with ten
sponsors and a 50/50 raffle which has evolved into 15 sponsors, a [considerably
larger] silent auction and, new this year, games of chance -- a spin to win cash
game and a beer bottle ring toss.” Fresh pizza by the slice will be made
on-site by Spinoza’s. During the last hour of the event, MSD will be providing
complimentary coffee and desserts. Bottle sales and growler fills will also be
available at this time.
The Montessori School of Dayton is
located at 2900 Acosta Street, Kettering. For more information about the event
or to purchase tickets, go to the Dayton Brew Ha-Ha website at http://brewhahadayton.com/
This story also appears in the Dayton City Paper.
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