Many people associate college with drinking alcohol, but few realize Auburn actually teaches students the proper forms of consumption.
The College of Human Sciences offers a class called "Beverage Appreciation" for students ages 21 and older.
The course is comprised of lessons of production, selection, service and sensory evaluation of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages.
"The class is a professional elective in the Hotel and Restaurant Management major, designed to give students a broad overview of beverages," said Martin O'Neill, a professor in hotel and restaurant management.
Fewer than 20 students meet at the Auburn University Hotel and Dixon Conference Center every Friday afternoon where O'Neill educates the group on wine, beer and other drinks.
"A lot of people eat away from home, which is not only food, but also beverage," O'Neill said. "It helps to have an understanding of what is going on in restaurants, for example, comprehending their beverage lists."
In the class, essential lessons are taught concerning sensory perception, wine and beer production, labeling and styles as well issues pertaining to the storage, service and responsible handling of beverages.
Later in the semester, students learn how alcoholic beverages are best combined with food.
"This turns a student into a professional, knowing how to pair food with beverage," O'Neill said. "My students will have a better understanding of what's going on with the palette."
Throughout the semester, students gain experience through O'Neill's sensory evaluation and tasting lessons, during which they learn indicators.
Various guest speakers discuss several beers, wines and international beverages, such as a representative of Samuel Adams, Tim McNally, wine judge and president of The New Orleans Wine and Food Experience, and Peter Schwartz, founder and president of International Beverage Company.
As the semester progresses, the class takes a more international approach to beverage appreciation. "We will go over France and all of the regions in France," O'Neill said. "Climatic and cultural influences, the predominant types of wines, as well as how wines are classified. In the end, students will evaluate each of the wines."
Students agree the knowledge they gain in Beverage Appreciation has a real world application.
"This class studies viticulture and brewing, which have been a part of human history through the ages, said Norman Van Aken, celebrity chef and James Beard Foundation Award winner. "To understand culture and sociology is to understand what people from various parts of the world eat and drink. Drinking alcoholic beverages is not a self-indulgent activity, it is an activity that gets to the part of civilization of human customs."
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