Schools To Offer Beer Brewing Degrees

BlutarskyTFM13 years ago

Anyone who drinks craft beer has probably thought of brewing their own. Many people do. Some of you reading this may, and that’s awesome. The world needs more good beer. What’s a hobby for many people across the country is now becoming a booming business. Craft breweries are taking up more of the beer market than ever before.

You can’t just become a brewer one day. It takes a lot of practice and all the right equipment and ingredients. As a result, many people who take up brewing as a hobby are pretty terrible at it when they start. One of my fraternity brothers tried making some homemade beer and it absolutely sucked. After a while, he got the hang of it, but those first few batches were terrible.

The level of difficulty as well as the skills required to make beer have led to some schools developing some interesting degree programs. While it may sound like a joke, it’s not. Some schools are offering degrees in making beer.

Blue Ridge Community College, a school located in North Carolina, is adding an Associate in Applied Science (AAS) Degree in Brewing, Distillation, and Fermentation. Two other schools in the North Carolina Community College System, Asheville-Buncombe Technical College and Rockingham Community College, are also considering offering similar courses this coming school year.

Community colleges aren’t the only ones getting in on the boom in craft beer production. South College, a for-profit institution offering degrees from associate’s all the way to doctorate programs, is also planning on developing a brewing degree. Their intent is to “offer a brewing program that combines science and beer.” That sounds pretty cool in my book.

While these programs are currently only offered at schools lacking a national reputation, they could be found elsewhere. Cornell University, a member of the Ivy League, already has a program focusing on wine.

The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences has a well-established Viticulture and Enology Program that teaches students about the various aspects of creating and selling wine.

Who knows? Maybe in the next few years they’ll be teaching students how to make and market their own beer too.

I wish I’d been able to take some of these classes. I wouldn’t major in it—I like drinking beer, I’m not really all about making it—but I definitely think the course material would be interesting. Now when people say “I majored in beer in college,” they might actually be serious.

[via US News]