Craft Beverage Institute of the Southeast®

Notice: Admission to the Craft Beverage Institute of the Southeast's Fall 2024 Brewing, Distillation, and Fermentation A.A.S. program is now open to the first 24 qualified applicants. You may enroll in A-B Tech and apply to the program at the Bailey Student Services Center on A-B Tech's main campus in Asheville.

We also welcome you to visit or contact the Craft Beverage Institute, located at 1465 Sand Hill Road at A-B Tech Enka (across from Ingles). To learn more, review the program requirements and contact us at (828) 398-7191.

The Craft Beverage Institute of the Southeast ® (CBI) at A-B Tech was founded in 2013 to support the rapidly growing craft beverage industry in Western North Carolina and the Southeast by providing curriculum and non-credit courses in brewing, distilling, fermentation, and related business practices. Its Brewing, Distillation, and Fermentation AAS degree was the first two-year program in the nation. The Institute prepares individuals for positions in brewery and distillery operations and management, distribution, sales and marketing, and customer service or to be self-employed and open their own craft production facility.

Located at A-B Tech Enka, the Craft Beverage Institute offers a training fermentation facility that supports real-time learning and reflects industry standards:

• Commercial size brew-house
• Six pilot brewing systems
• Hybrid distillation system
• Commercial winery production equipment
• Sensory analysis lab
• Packaging lines
• Quality assurance/quality control lab

In addition to brewing, distillation, and winemaking practices, students perform experiments and vet their production output via sensory evaluations. Students perform experiments and receive “just-in-time” instruction.

Learn more about our curriculum Brewing, Distillation, and Fermentation program.

• Craft Beverage Institute program brochure

Listen to Jeff "Puff" Irvin's, podcast Consuming the Craft.