FSA Tastings

In the Summer of 2021, we started up a research project called the Siena Beverage Institute. We have two main goals for the project.

1. One is the creation of a center where any local business involved in the beverage industry (brewery, ciders, winery, distillers, meadery, etc) can come to Siena and we can help them with whatever they need help with. Faculty and students work hand in hand with the producers on the projects. Every research project has students and faculty working with our partners to help them out with design, social media, website building, scientific analysis, graphics, video creation and editing, or whatever else they are looking for. We've worked with several partners over the last year and a half, and are starting up additional projects as we continue to grow. 
2. The other aspect of the Institute is educational. This is broken into two parts.
   • One part is in a classroom setting which we've had some great success with this last spring and will be expanding the offerings in the fall and beyond.
   • The other deals with direct knowledge about the products and product categories. In order for the students to be able to help the local businesses, we wanted them to understand the products that producers are creating. We’ve focusing on the history, culture, marketing, science, and business of their products. The students are doing all of this research with a little guidance from us. We give them some background, point them in the right direction, and watch them go.

This process has been so successful that we've opened up the tastings to the greater Siena Community so that everyone can learn from the students and each other. It's been wonderful gathering together to learn, share, and enjoy some amazing products in the company of colleagues and friends, as well as helping the students learn how to taste and drink in a professional setting. It's a celebration of so many of the things that makes Siena great, most importantly the people.