Brewing Science & Process

The School of Professional & Continuing Studies offers the Brewing Science and Process course for students interested in learning about the craft brewing process.

This 10-week course provides an overview of the entire process of making craft beer from wort production through fermentation. Other critical topics are covered including brewery safety and sanitation, how to use quality assurance to brew consistently from batch to batch, and a look into brewery operations, including production planning and raw material sourcing.

Upon finishing the course, students have the option to complete a Capstone project, where they can apply the concepts learned throughout the course to create their own brewery floor plan. Those who choose to participate in the project will have their work reviewed and critiqued by one of the program’s instructors.

Course Objectives

By the end of this course, students will be able to:

Better understand how a brewer uses equipment to produce a variety of different beer styles
Identify equipment needed in a brewhouse beyond what’s required to simply brew beer
Understand the role of Quality Assurance in ensuring consistent, high-quality product
Recognize the brewer’s role in keeping brewers yeast healthy, added at the right amount
View the brewing process as one facet of an overall brewery operations plan

Course Topics

The course will cover the following topics:

The role and purpose served by each piece of equipment in a brewhouse
Additional equipment needed to support the craft brewing process
Quality Assurance and its critical importance in brewing
The science behind yeas and ensuring optimum yeast health from batch to batch
A holistic view of brewery operations, beyond the production of craft beer

Who Should Take This Class

This course is ideally suited to the following people:

Career changers interested in entering the craft brewing industry
Homebrewers and brewing enthusiasts seeking to scale their processes to a commercial level
Those looking for a deeper dive of the brewing process at a commercial scale
Brewery business owners and operators without knowledge of the brewing process
Taproom and front-of-House staff wishing to better educate themselves on the production of craft beer

Course Modules

Craft Brewing Technology & Process

Covers general brewing production, including the steps in operation from raw material, to wort, to final product. Outlines methods for brewing popular styles of beer, covering differences in how each style is produced. Provides a variety of techniques to adjust flavor profiles of each style. Also covers specific gravities and facility designs, and demonstrates brewing software uses.

Equipment, Maintenance, Packaging & Distribution

Provides additional insight into the equipment used in a brewery, including proper calibration and maintenance. Introduces different packaging options and methods, along with setting up a distribution system. Addresses compliance and legal aspects of packaging beer for sale. Includes draught system maintenance, equipment configuration and cleaning, and carbonation dynamics.

Intro to Safety & Sanitation

Covers two of the most important aspects of making great beer — safety and sanitation. Addresses overall sanitation requirements along with specific issues like grain dust safety, proper chemical storage and procedures, CO2, personal protective equipment, working in confined spaces, lock out tag systems and more.

Intro to Quality Assurance

Covers microbiology for brewers, introduces beneficial microbial actions, and addresses ways to control microbiological threats. Provides in-depth introduction to methods of manipulating beer statistics, including the Standard Reference Method related to color of the brew, Specific Gravity related to alcohol content, and International Bitterness Units.

Intro to Fermentation Science

Provides in-depth coverage of different yeast strains, the fermentation processes, and using yeast and fermentation to affect beer styles. Introduces methods of yeast propagation. Emphasizes the importance of yeast selection and fermentation processes on beer styles. Covers microscope-aided cell counting, cell health, and pitch rate determination.

Intro to Brewery Operations

Provides students with a foundational understanding of the operational and logistical challenges involved in running a brewery including; production planning and tracking, inventory management, raw ingredient sourcing and storage considerations. Students will also gain exposure to some of the software tools used by on-the-job brewers.

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