A world-famous school for prospective craft-beer brewers is heading to Canada.

The Siebel Institute of Technology, which has made its home in Chicago for more than 150 years, recently announced it would be moving to

Montreal

 due to challenges attracting international students after the foreign visa crackdown in the United States.

Beginning in January, the school will be located in Montreal’s Hochelaga neighbourhood, near the original Molson brewery. Here, the Financial Post looks at Siebel’s historical significance, its influence on the modern craft beer movement and what its move to Montreal could mean for a city with its own storied history of beer-making.

What is the Siebel Institute of Technology?

Founded in 1868 by Dr. John Ewald Siebel as the Zymotechnic Institute, the school began with five main programs, including a six-month brewers’ course, a three-month engineers’ course and a two-month bottlers’ course.

Today, the school offers both in-person and online classes for prospective brewers of all skill levels.

The historic school has a relatively niche area of study, and with it a smaller student body. Between July 2023 and June 2024, 221 aspiring brewers graduated from the school, eight of whom took the master brewer program,

according to the school’s disclosure forms.

In 2001, the school partnered with the Doemens Academy in Munich to create the World Brewing Academy, allowing students to learn the modern approach to brewing in North America combined with a more traditional style in Germany.

Under the current structure, courses are available across the U.S., with additional ones being offered in Germany in 2026. The programs range from as few as five days up to 20 weeks.

Regarding Siebel’s relocation to Montreal, Dr. Werner Gloßner, managing director of the Doemens Academy, said in a news release, “We fully support this move and look forward to many more years of successful collaboration.”

Seibel has also been offering classes at Durham College in Ontario since 2016.

Why is Siebel famous?

The school claims its alumni hail from more than 60 countries and are employed at nearly every major brewery on earth. It has taught members of renowned beer-brewing families, including August Anheuser Busch III, former president of the eponymous

beer

giant; several members of the Stroh family, from the now-defunct Stroh Brewing Company (whose brands are owned in Canada by Sleeman Breweries); and August Pabst, of Pabst Blue Ribbon, Schlitz and Old Milwaukee fame.

The school also claims to have developed several

 

techniques used by brewers around the world.

“Some of the major practices being used by some of the largest and smallest breweries around the world today were developed at the Siebel Institute and they work in conjunction with (each other),” Keith Lemecke, vice president of the school, said in a

segment of “Innovations with Ed Begley Jr.”

in 2016.

Why is it moving to Canada?

The school said in a news release that the decision to head north “follows a comprehensive review of operational costs, industry trends (and) increased student visa challenges to enter the United States.”

Under President

Donald Trump

, the U.S. government has cracked down on foreign student visas. In August, the government changed its regulations to require any student visa holder to leave the country after four years, regardless of whether their education program is completed or not.

“Recent regulatory changes in the U.S. have made it much more challenging for many of our international students, who have become the majority of our student body, to attend classes in person,” John Hannafan, general manager and director of education at Siebel,

said in a news release.

“This relocation of North America classroom operations to Montreal allows us to pivot without sacrificing the student experience,” he said.

The school will share its Montreal location with the Lallemand Baking Academy, which offered Siebel financial support during the Covid-19 pandemic. The two also collaborated on a non-alcoholic beer in February.

“The new facility in Montreal offers a unique opportunity to integrate brewing and baking education under one roof — two disciplines that have shared a rich history for millennia,” Siebel

 

said in the statement.

How big are Montreal’s and Quebec’s beer industries?

Montreal’s long history of beer-making dates back to 1786, when John Molson founded Molson Brewery, the oldest beer company in North America. Today, the city’s beer industry includes 50 microbreweries, accounting for nearly 16 per cent of the province’s craft beer scene.

“Montreal itself provides a vibrant, safe, and culturally rich environment for students, with world-class amenities and a thriving food and beverage scene,” the Siebel Institute said in its statement about the move.

There were 316 microbreweries in Quebec in 2025, up from just 87 in 2011, though the province reached a peak of 331 such businesses in 2023,

according to Microbrasseries du Quebec

.

Microbreweries in Quebec employ 5,000 people, a 2018 report by Groupe DDM said, primarily in smaller towns and have become a source of

tourism

for the province.

• Email: bcousins@postmedia.com