Syllabus

CUL 140 Beverage Fundamentals

General Information
Date
September 25th, 2017
Department
Business
Course Prefix
CUL
Course Number
140
Course Title
Beverage Fundamentals

Course Information
Credit Hours
3
Lecture Contact Hours
3
Lab Contact Hours
0
Other Contact Hours
0
Catalog Description
Students will examine the world of beers, wines, and spirits in the context of the foodservice industry. Students will learn
relevant terminology as well as the fundamentals of production for each beverage group. Students will examine how
differences in food and culture have led to similar offerings throughout the world. Responsible beverage service as well as
pairing products with food will be covered as well as the significant availability of local products.
Key Assessment
This course contains a Key Assessment for the programs
Prerequisites
None
Co-requisites
None
Grading Scheme
Letter

First Year Experience/Capstone Designation

SUNY General Education

FLCC Values
Institutional Learning Outcomes Addressed by the Course
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 Vitality Inquiry Perseverance Interconnectedness

Course Learning Outcomes

1. Classify beverages and beverage families based on origins, characteristics, ingredients, and typical methods of
service.
2. Articulate the importance of marketing concepts including identification of primary and secondary target markets as
they relate to purchasing and menu functions.
3. Discuss how food and beverage pairings should feature complementary flavors and bodies.
4. Recommend an alcoholic beverage to a customer based on customers' taste preferences.

Program Affiliation
This course is required as a core program course in the following program
AAS Culinary Arts
AAS Hospitality and Tourism Management - Food and Beverage Management

Outline of Topics Covered

1. Prelude to Wine- Understanding Fermentation, Faults, Climate, Terroir, and Tastes

Body, style, acidity versus fruit, the impact of climatic issues on grapes, taste differences of the

same varietal grown in different soils, discussion of wine sales in foodservice establishments,

and barriers to wine sales.

2. Wines of the United States: California, NY, Oregon, and Washington

History of wine making regions and their growth, AVAs, American labeling laws, noteworthy

regions and their primary varietals, cold versus warm climate wines produced from the same

varietals, discussion of differences between New World and Old World wine styles.

3. Wines of New York- Grape species, AVA, Laws

What products are grown in what region, vinifera, hybrid, and native grapes and their use to

make wines, history of NYS wines and their previous reputation as well as the evolution of the

NY Wine industry, discussion of sales strategies, farm to table legislation and purchasing

directly from the vineyard.

4. Wines of the World- France

Varietals and styles of wine from the regions of Burgundy, Bordeaux, the Loire, the Rhone, and

Languedoc as well as labeling practices for these regions, EU labeling requirements, the

reputation of French wines, methods of quality control and assurance, and quality

classifications, wine as food in a cultural context.

5. Wines of the World- Italy, Germany, and Spain

Regional use of varietals in the primary wine regions of Italy (Tuscany, Piedmont, Veneto,

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comparison to French wines, wine as food in a cultural context.

6. Ports, Sherries, and Champagne

Classifications of ports including vintage, late bottle vintage, tawny, ruby, and white), port

production methods, the British influence on ports, styles and production methods of sherries

including fino, amontillado, oloroso, and Pedro Jimenez, Madeiras, Marsalas, domestic

"sherries" and "ports", champagne versus sparkling wines, dry versus sweet, traditional double

fermentation method, charmat method, international partnerships for production.

7. Wine Food and Service

Pairing wine and food, proper service etiquette, proper ordering, receiving and Storage

practices, writing and effective wine list, pricing strategies, discussion of the importance of

educating and training service staff with regard to wine sales, NYS laws regarding sales of wine

in restaurants and other outlets.

8. Beer: history, terminology, current trends- discovery of fermentation, historical production and packaging

of beers, conversion of starches to sugars, discussion of ingredients

Hops, yeasts (top fermenting and bottom fermenting), grains used (barley, corn, rice, and

wheat), water, malt, and flavorings, styles of beers and ales and their flavor profiles,

ascertaining a customer's taste profile through explicit feedback, mass production, licensing for

international production, the craft beer movement, discussion of pairing with foods.

9. Beers of the world

Beers (flavor profiles, styles and bodies) of the United States, the United Kingdom including

England, Scotland, and Ireland, Germany, Italy, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Mexico, and

the Caribbean, how to successfully pair products with food, best practices for receiving and

storing imported products, life span of beer and other brewed beverages.

10. Intro to spirits, history, principles of distillation, gins and vodkas

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processes involved in distillation, pitfalls and risks associated with distilling products used for

distilled spirits, families of distilled spirits, spirits as part of regional culture, pot stills versus

column stills, refraction of spirits based on the size and shape of stills, history of vodkas,

Russian vodkas, Polish vodkas, Scandinavian vodkas, French vodkas, domestic vodkas,

products used to make vodka including grapes, apples, potatoes, and grain, history of gin and

gin production, use of early gin products as tinctures of medicinal herbs, genever versus London

Dry style, socio economic and cultural shifts surrounding gin consumption, the fall of gin's

popularity world wide.

11. Rums and Tequilas

The history of rum, the slave trade, colonization of the Caribbean and surrounding areas and

the influence of the founding countries, discussion of style and body, with respect, British style

(molasses based) versus French style (sugar cane juice based) rum products, flavored rums,

the emergence of rum as a stand alone beverage, aging rum in oak, the tradition of rum

production in the early United States, the history of mescal and tequila production, tequilas

versus mezcals, the distillation of pulque, growing agave and traditional versus modern

processing and distillation methods, discussion of oak aging for tequilas and associated

terminology, the emergence of tequila as a stand alone beverage, the long cycle time and the

effects on price in the marketplace.

12. Whiskies of the world

Profiles and historical perspective on bourbons and other American whiskies, Canadian

whiskies, Irish whiskies, Scotch whiskies, grains used for production, rules surrounding

production, classifications of Scotch whiskies including grain whisky, blended whisky, blended

malt whisky, and single malt whisky, discussion on the use of oak caks to impart flavor and help

to mature whiskies, discussion of age and alleged correlation with quality, whisky additives,

whisky making regions of the United States, Canada, Ireland, and Scotland, other whisky

producing nations including India and Japan, the future of whisky in the American marketplace.

13. Whiskies cont'd and Brandies, Cordials, and Specialty Liqueurs

The production and flavor profiles of Cognac and Armagnacs, Napoleon brandies, domestic

brandies, French quality markers including VS, VSOP, and XO designations, distillation

techniques, aging in oak, reduction, the importance of regional cordials and liqueurs from a

cultural perspective, flavor profiles of famous liqueurs and cordials and their use in recipes

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