University of California, Davis Extension
Siebel and the American Brewers Guild are both great trade schools, but UC Davis in Davis, California, is a no-brainer if you’re seeking a university setting for brewing.
Since 1958, the college has offered undergraduate degrees in fermentation, and in 1991, they established technical training programs for brewers through the UC Davis Extension.
They presently provide a 10-week Professional Brewers Certificate Program and an 18-week Master Brewers Program.
You can also complete one or more of their Short Courses rapidly, such as:
- 5-day Intensive Brewing Science Course for Practical Brewing
- 1-day introduction to brewing chemistry
- Brewing Fundamentals: Beyond the Kit – 2 days
- The Sudwerk Brewery hosts these programs, which is a unique feature.
- OSU (Oregon State University)
- Oregon State University is yet another academic behemoth in the beer world. Their B.S. in Fermentation Sciences is a well-known degree that focuses on brewing science.
OSU and UC Davis have the world’s most advanced university brewing research labs. They delve deeply into every facet of brewing science, constantly expanding our knowledge and understanding of beer.
Unlike UC Davis, OSU has its state-of-the-art brewhouse and malt house.
Students go through the complete brewing process at least once a month, from malting the grain to bottling and packing the finished product.
OSU routinely hosts expert guest brewers from local and regional craft breweries, and they’ll even fly you to Germany to obtain hands-on experience from some of the world’s most beloved breweries.
Not interested in a full-fledged Bachelor’s degree program? The Craft Brewery Startup Workshop and the Beer Quality and Analysis Series are two brief Bootcamp/workshop-style courses OSU offers.
Appalachian State University
A B.S. in Fermentation Sciences is also available at Appalachian State University (ASU). This program started in June 2012, making it the most recent on our list. However, they already have an MBAA-recognized brewing program and provide many of the same amenities as OSU (such as an on-site brewhouse).
ASU places a strong focus on brewing science. Still, they won’t allow you to graduate without a thorough understanding of the brewing industry as a whole, which includes classes in business operations and marketing.
You’ll also take a deep dive into brewery facility design, learning about the mechanical and engineering components of all the fancy equipment and shiny buttons we all want to push.
“Students worked to build computer control and monitoring systems, cooling and heating solutions, choices for process-water reclamation, greater energy efficiencies, uses for discarded grains and solids, and efficient architecture and layout of the facility and laboratory,” according to their website. That’s incredible!
Would you rather go the Bootcamp route? So you’d best get on the waiting list. Their extremely popular 5-day short course is always sold out. This course is intended for the professional brewer or advanced homebrewer wishing to develop their skills.
University of Central Washington
CWU offers a four-year B.S. in Craft Brewing and a new Minor for science majors, and a Certificate for non-science majors.
Their lectures are centered on the science of brewing. Still, they all include hands-on brewing experience, and the Certificate is designed to provide an overview of the biochemistry, microbiology, technology, and business of craft brewing.
Don’t be misled by the term “overview.” This application is incredibly hard and involved, and it will even put seasoned brewers to the test.
CWU does not have a large, cutting-edge brewery or malt house. Instead, students brew on a 10-gallon pilot system, which most brewers use to experiment with and test new recipes. Still quite practical, and if you’ve ever brewed on a large system, you’ll know it’s not much different.
