Frequently Asked Questions

The core of our programme is based around 62 Units/Lessons split into 4 sections. Units incorporate short videos and animations. In addition there is a section with a range of articles and templates and guidelines which are useful for practical brewing – articles that are not published by ourselves have been reviewed by our technical team. We have also started a video series with some home brew demonstrations. Learning is self-directed and candidates can work through all the material at their own pace.

As you will see from the programme outline, the focus here is about using the knowledge gained during the associate programme to practically brew and interaction with the Hibernian Brewing School team is via zoom and email to help you achieve the programme requirements.

There are no set definitions for Nanobreweries, Microbreweries & Brewpubs – all involve small scale brewing with an artisan focus but the emphasis is usually different in all cases.

The nanobrewery is essentially a scaled up version of homebrewing with the difference that product is sold to customers. Batch size is no more than 3 barrels/470L (usually much lower) compared to many home brew batch sizes of 0.12 barrels. So in terms of scale a nanobrewery could be 10 to 20 times bigger than a typical Homebrew set up. Note – technically a small scale nanobrewery is known as a picobrewery. Customers are typically local who call to the premises to buy product. Because everything is local, the product is generally very fresh.

A microbrewery is the next size up and batches are typically between 30 to 60 Barrel size. To gain microbrewery status in a country, the output needs to be below a specific volume per year and if this is the case, it qualifies for lower excise/duty rates compared to larger breweries. Microbreweries often have distribution arrangements to get their product into the market as opposed to being a retail center where customers come to buy beer.

A microbrewery (or nanobrewery) can also be called a brewpub if its housed in a public house ie. usually restaurant/bar and more than 50% of its sales are in that bar.

In terms of brewing principles, most of the same applies for Nanobreweries, Microbreweries & Brewpubs as for homebrewing. The big difference is while the scale is still relatively small, homebrewers are essentially brewing for themselves while there are paying customers for the others which in effect means the approach needs to be more scientific and professional – the homebrewer may want to ‘Brew like a pro’ but the others need to brew like pros for survival.

The difference between small scale brewing and large scale brewing can be likened to the difference between working on a large tanker that has to travel the ocean Vs working on a small boat – the principles of what you are dealing with are the same but the challenges can be a lot different and so the skillset also needs to be different.

Hibernian Professional Brewers have all the knowledge required to brew beers with a variety of styles and taste. They have demonstrated the ability to brew and package beer to a number of different recipes and use their acquired knowledge to troubleshoot and problem solve various scenarios.

We see this word across a range of products and it can mean slightly different things to different people. In this context we define artisan as ‘brewed locally in small batches by a skilled craftsperson, using carefully chosen pure ingredients that are where possible fresh, in season and locally sourced’.

A validated Digital Credential is achieved when a clear set of agreed criteria are met and this is validated by an approved centre – in this case Hibernian Brewing School. Digital Credentials are internationally recognised and follow a global standard. They can be incorporated into resumes and are compatible with Linkedin profiles. A digital credential is hosted on a secure website and is tamper proof so that candidates themselves cannot make changes to the achievements matched to them.

Note – As well as being approved to validate our own credentials, we are also approved to validate the credentials of a number of other organisations.
We are the first brewing school to make digital credentials available for brewers.