Beer Tasting & How Great Malts and Specialty Beers are Made

Alberto Jiménez-Díaz was born and raised in Monterrey, Mexico. While growing up, his father was the head brew master at the local brewery, Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma (now Heineken Mexico), which gave Alberto the opportunity to visit the brewery frequently.

The aromas of boiling hops and fermentation cellars never left Alberto’s memory. That memory was the key to pursue a B.Sc. in Food Engineering with a minor in Business Administration which he obtained from Monterrey Institute of Technology in 2006. After finishing an internship at Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma, he decided to leave his hometown and move to Fargo, ND to attend North Dakota State University. There he obtained a M.Sc. in Cereal Science in 2010 with Dr. Paul Schwarz as his advisor. Alberto’s thesis focused on the impact of hydrolytic enzymes on the amount and quality of fermentable extract obtained from barley malt. Currently he is pursuing a Ph.D. in Plant Sciences from NDSU. In an effort to improve barley varieties, Alberto’s doctorate project intends to elucidate which metabolites are responsible for barley dormancy. The project has a direct impact on the malting and brewing industry.

Alberto enjoys brewing beer. He has developed recipes on several beer styles, including all-malt lagers, pale ales, bock, Belgian-style white beer, and wheat beer. Needless to say, he also enjoys grilling steaks to pair with a great beer.

Alberto’s co-speaker, Jaidev Sehrawat, is originally from India. He is pursuing a Master’s in Malting and Brewing Science at NDSU in Fargo, ND. He previously worked as a quality analyst for Barmalt India Pvt. Ltd., and has completed his internship with Anheuser-Busch in Moorhead, MN. Jaidev will be speaking on Malt processing (Barley to Malt).

You can join these gentlemen for a lesson on the Importance of Malt Barley Quality Factors, and How Great Malts and Specialty Beers are made, followed by some great Beer Tasting - on Tuesday, February 5th at 4:45pm at the Airport International Inn.