This course provides students with an introduction to the modern-day brewing industry, its historical development and organization and the full range of strategic and operational challenges faced in developing, launching, and operating an effective and efficient brewery. Students prepare a business plan for a brewery over the course of the semester.

This course focuses on the materials used in the brewing industry including, but not limited to, malt, water, wheat, hops, and adjuncts.

A comprehensive analysis of the science of beer brewing covering production of sweet wort from milling of grain to mashing and saccharification, the wort boiling biochemistry including hop as well as adjunct ingredient addition and utilization, yeast selection and character based on biology and genetics, and finally, fermentation. Quality analysis and predicted outcomes because of selection of ingredients and methods are also discussed.

A comprehensive analysis of the science of beer brewing, following from Brewing Science 1, covering the effects of environment and yeast selection on fermentation and maturation of fermented wort to beer including post-fermentation adjunct addition, carbonation methods, filtration, high gravity brewing, cask ale production and process quality, flavor, and control. This includes analysis of flaws and spoilage as well as their causes. Discussion and management of brewing microbiology is also discussed.

This course provides students with important knowledge and skills required to successfully develop, maintain, manage, and operate the facilities and specialized equipment required in modern day brewing. As the number of both home and commercial brewers have increased, there is a distinct need to provide these individuals with the skills necessary to successfully operate their brewing plants. This course helps to prepare those individuals interested in both commercial and home brewing.

This course discusses the microbes that are essential to successful beer production and processing, and the ways they can pose hazards in terms of spoilage and sensory quality. The course examines the properties and management of these microorganisms in brewing, along with tactics for reducing spoilage and optimizing beer quality.

This course will be an introduction to basic engineering principles and how they can be applied to the brewing process. These principles will then be applied in the practice of basic engineering scale-up with emphasis on larger scale brewing equipment and processes.

Running a successful brewery requires fundamental understanding of supply chain management and the various interactions between the brewery and its suppliers, distributors, retailers, and customers. This course focuses on how components necessary for beer production and packaging are produced and reach the brewery and investigates how supply chain disruptions impact brewery productivity. The course also examines the distribution pathways that get beer to the consumer, with an emphasis on the three-tier system and its associated regulations.

This course examines the establishment of quality management programs in the brewery and the various sensory and analytical approaches to assessing overall beer quality. The course introduces students to analytic equipment, statistical analyses, and ASBC Methods of Analysis widely utilized in the American brewing industry.

This course focuses on the application of theory in a fully commercial brewing setting. Students are required to source a professional practicum opportunity with a commercial brewer and gain first-hand experience of the various aspects of the brewing process.

The specific focus will depend on the research topic and form selected by the student and his or her major professor. Students will work with their major professor to define their research topic and format, so that it meets departmental expectations for a non-thesis project. Students are highly encouraged to undertake a project of industrial relevance.

 

For additional information please address all inquiries to:

Clark A. Danderson, PhD
Assistant Professor/Director of Brewing Science and Operations
Horst Schulze School of Hospitality Management
332A Spidle Hall
Auburn University
Auburn, Al 36849
E: cad0057@auburn.edu