Dear Classmates and Friends of the Traditional Refreshments Class of ’71,

Germany has Octoberfest and ’71 had a  class /tasting on beers of our own on October 5  led by 2 beer experts (at least judging by their consumption) – our own  Reunion Chair Rob Farnham and Head of the Milestone Reunion Programs Mark Robertson ’02.

 Mark and Rob took us through  the origins of beer, brewing process, and tasting of several different types of beer:

• Oktoberfest (marzen)
• Kolsch or Pilsner
• Hazy/New England-style IPA
• Porter or stout

 In many states, you can buy a mixed 6-pack for $12 so you can get one of each for our session  (beer pun intended).  I guarantee the beer will be better than the Schlitz, Carling’s Black Label or Schmidt’s we drank in college .

Rob’s primer is an excellent guide to  everything about beer  — recommended but not mandatory reading. This was fun, even for non-beer drinkers. For people who want to join us with  a non-alcoholic beer, I highly recommend Upside Dawn (by Athletic Brewing Co.) and Heineken 0.0 – both crisp and refreshing.

              Steve Brown