There’s something brewing in Ashland: a collaboration between the Randolph-Macon College History Department and Center of the Universe (COTU) Brewery.

From History Major to Brewer
RMC alumnus Nathan Landers ’16, who majored in history and whose advisor was History Professor Mathias Bergmann, is COTU’s brewer. In summer 2019 Landers contacted Bergmann with an idea for a collaborative effort between RMC history majors and the brewery. Landers was interested in researching historic brew recipes from various time periods and wanted to work with current students to produce special beers from those recipes and to share the history of the era in which they were created.  

“I have always had a fascination with beer and how its history is intimately woven with our own,” says Landers, “and I had wanted to partner with RMC since I began working at COTU in 2016. When I approached one of our founders with the idea of this historic beer series, we realized this was the perfect opportunity for such a project.”

Landers credits RMC for preparing him for a career that he loves. “My studies at RMC gave me a unique skill set when it comes to learning and talking about the history of this craft,” he says.

Unique Opportunities
“The History Department thought this would be an excellent opportunity for upper-division history majors to engage in experiential learning,” says History Professor Michael Fischbach, who was inspired to develop a course, Brewing and History, which tasks students with adopting a particular beer that COTU is producing as “their” beer. Students will also write a research paper detailing what was happening during the time period, and the country, relevant to “their” beer.

In addition, Fischbach’s students will create a one-page abstract of their paper, which they will give to COTU to use to promote its events. Finally, each student will make a presentation at COTU on the night that “their” beer is presented. These public events are a fun, informative way to introduce each beer to the market.  

Historical Beer 
COTU brewed the first of these historical beers—a mild ale—on October 16, 2019 at its Origin Beer Lab in Ashland, and the beer was released at a public event at COTU on November 11. Taylor Williams ’20 (history, political science, and gender, sexuality, and women’s studies major) adopted that beer.

Williams says she was excited to take Fischbach’s course and says it was “really great to adopt a beer at COTU. I was excited to be a part of something that had an immediate impact on the town. Often with history, there is not an immediate gratification regarding research, but in this case, there was.”

A member of RMC’s Honors program, Williams is also a member of Iota Iota Iota (a women’s and gender studies honor society), Phi Alpha Theta (a history honor society), and Pi Sigma Alpha (a political science honor society). She serves as a tutor in the Higgins Academic Center for history and for gender, sexuality, and women’s studies. Her post-RMC plans include graduate school, where she will pursue a master’s degree in political science.

From Classroom to Taproom
“The beer that Taylor did her research on, WWII English Mild, was a big hit in our taproom,” says Landers. “We got a lot of positive feedback on her presentation and on the beer itself. Taylor’s presentation provided some new information about beer in WWII that a lot of people didn’t know. It has also piqued interest in our future releases.”

Future Brews
The second beer, a Philadelphia Porter, will be brewed on December 17 and released on January 13, 2020. Emma Long ’21 adopted this beer.

Other beers will be brewed and released to the market in spring 2020:

• On January 21, 2020, a Doppelbock will be brewed. Its release date is February 24, 2020. Cole Grinde ’20 adopted this beer.
• A Gotlandsdricke will be brewed on March 17, 2020 and released on April 6, 2020. Samantha Davidson ’20 adopted this beer.
• The last brew—a Kottbusser—will be brewed on April 14, 2020 and released on May 4, 2020. Hunter Marsh ’21 adopted this beer.