Beer Making Classes Chicago

Hi all!
My husband mentioned an interest in a beer making class. I think he'd like the type like basic cooking classes: they teach you a hands-on cooking method, and give you tips and recipes to take home. There's Brew & Grow near us, but it sounds like they tell you how to do it at home but you don't get to actually make it there first.
Does anyone have experience with brewing classes? His birthday's coming up and I think that would be a fun gift. If you went to a Brew & Grow class, I'd like to hear about that too.

Mods: If this should go in OTHER instead, feel free to move.

Thanks!

Ted Perez and I taught a beermaking class at the Evanston Ecology Center earlier this year, actually making an extract-based beer (all-grain would take too long) during the course of the class. There's been talk about repeating it this summer or fall, but I don't know that anything's been decided yet. If you're interested, you could call Matt at the Ecology Center @ (847) 448-8256 and ask.

Or, hell, just come over here and I'll show you how I brew beer. I have batch I need to make anyway. Since it'll be all-grain, figure on spending a good part of the day on the process.

I know that this doesn't help the O.P.'s query.....
but may, plant a seed in a Potential Investor/ Entrepreneur/ Tony (Lagunitas Founder/Millionaire) Magee?/Hello!?!
brain to recreate this wonderful- but clearly- ahead of their time- business!

Anyone else recall (as fondly as I do?) a place called B.O.P = Brew On Premises, located near Clyborn @ Webster- kinda next to/& behind The White Glove Car Wash?

What a great concept, where you can "cook" any one of a number of "recipes" they provide as a staring post- be it a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale- to a Czech Style-Pilsner- to a Weiss Beer- to a ______whatever, you pay for the Ingredients and Coaching- they ferment and watch your beer develop-
and finally- you come with bottles (or they sell you theirs) - you can even print your own labels, to proudly bottle your Product-
all the while sharing knowledge, data points AND free beer from
other's there at the same time as you.
Kind of a Beer Cooperative- that you pay for.
So sweet- because- if you didn't wanna invest in all the equipment, technology, buying the wrong kinda hops, etc.- they handled all of those "eager-beaver-early-learner" errors and misjudgments, common in learning any new craft.

Is that the place that was also (at,some point) called Brew & Grow?

No, Brew & Grow is still around (multiple locations in the area). It's a home-brew supply shop, also with equipment for growing plants indoors. The B.O.P. HdA is referring to is a joint where you'd go and brew an extract beer, then come back a week or so after it fermented out to bottle it and take it home. A number of such places sprang up around the country in the mid 1990s, most didn't last long.

Many places offer beer making classes these days, although most are of the "look at us do stuff" variety (and then maybe we'll sell you some equipment). As mentioned above, Ted Perez (of the Evanston Homebrew Club) and I have taught home-brew classes for the city of Evanston based on the Brew on Premise model — at the first class, people come in, and we jointly brew a beer (usually a basic pale ale) (while sampling a number of different beer styles). Then a couple of weeks later, the group reassembles, and the participants bottle, label and take home their beers. Not sure if we'll do it again this summer ... we're in talks, we'll see.

Hombre de Acero wrote:
Anyone else recall (as fondly as I do?) a place called B.O.P = Brew On Premises, located near Clyborn @ Webster- kinda next to/& behind The White Glove Car Wash?

Absolutely! brewed there for a couple of years(1994-1996). Bummed they closed.
IIRC, it was a franchise shop out of Canada where due to taxes on beer it was far cheaper for people to brew beer in places like this than to purchase beer at the store.