Suggestions for a University Elective: "The Science of Brewing Beer"

[JulianB1]

A little bit of background here:

My university recently restructured its Honors program, and part of that restructuring was the creation of many open course slots for "special topics honors classes". The idea behind these is that they will be courses the honors students can use to fulfill general education requirements, while being novel, off-beat, or unique. They also must be general enough to not have any specific prerequisites beyond standard high-school level courses. A general call was put out to the faculty to submit ideas and proposals for these courses, to start next fall. So I was lamenting to the Honors director that I was having a hard time thinking of something related to mathematics that could be interesting and taught with few to no prerequisites, and he suggested that myself and my friend Travis (a biologist and also a craft beer fan) design a course on "the math and science of brewing beer" or something along those lines. I was pretty surprised that not only was such a course idea being received favorably (I don't think I would have had the temerity to suggest it myself), but actually being suggested and encouraged to me by the program director. So suffice to say I want to run with this idea. The plan would be Travis and I would co-teach it; I'd handle the math and physics aspects while he would take more of the biology and chemistry (with plenty of overlap).

Okay, so such a course might actually happen; the big question now is how to design it so that it's interesting, has a sufficient level of rigor to be worth college credit (even as a general education requirement). I'd love to get the opinions of others on a variety of aspects related to this, but especially with regards to suggestions for topics. Take the following into consideration:

1. The topics should possess some non-trivial scientific or mathematical content.
2. Where possible, the topics should focus on core aspects of brewing beer rather than tiny minutia (that being said, a lot of the more scientifically intricate parts involve tiny minutia, so there will be that too).
3. This isn't designed to be a course on learning to homebrew, although many things may be explained with an eye to that type of setup due to the ease in setting up demonstrations.

I've got plenty of ideas already and I'll certainly share those, but I'm interested in hearing from this community.

 

[MordorMongo]

<insert7daygueuzejokehere>


Sounds like a class I wish was around when I was in school, you are doing God's work here man. Bravo!

 

[Boilerfood]

This sounds awesome. Maybe topics covering:

1) I think the process of fermentation, and the science behind it, could be both really educational, as well as interesting. Especially if you are open to discussing wine as well.

2) Maybe a section discussing the background, and utilization of non-sacchromyces yeasts, and their effects.

3) The cause, and science behind off flavors.

4) How to calculate IBU, ABV, OG, FG etc.

5) The effects and results of oxidation, UV exposure, prolonged heat exposure

ETA: I took a wine class in school, and one of the requirements were that we were all 21, because samples were involved. Obviously, this led to large swaths of girls taking the class as an excuse to get drunk (it was a 6-9PM class, one night a week) but I think it highlighted what we discussed that lecture.

 

[Rau711]

I'm not a college guy but I think an entire class could be dedicated to water, malt, hops, and yeast and the effects it has on beer. Maybe do some simple recipe building to showcase the differences between even a small change.

 

[Michigan1]

Beer is a great example of something that has deep roots in science, history, culture, theology, philosophy, and more. I'd take the class! I have some ideas, but I'm way too busy with my school stuff at the moment.

 

[snowrs1]

I needed to go to a different college.......

 

[quirkzoo1]

How many class sessions? How long is each class?

Off the top of my head, I feel like first half talking about the science and second half using maths to figure out the exact numbers. For example:

Class 1, overview of the brewing process, give the science behind what is going on. Math would be used to calculate OG, FG, ABV....

Class 2, Mashing. Go over the science of the mash (Enzymes, PH...). Math would be calculating grain/water ratio, efficiency, volumes, temp changes...

Make sense?

 

[mcaulifww]

How many class sessions? How long is each class?

Off the top of my head, I feel like first half talking about the science and second half using maths to figure out the exact numbers. For example:

Class 1, overview of the brewing process, give the science behind what is going on. Math would be used to calculate OG, FG, ABV....

Class 2, Mashing. Go over the science of the mash (Enzymes, PH...). Math would be calculating grain/water ratio, efficiency, volumes, temp changes...

Make sense?

I like this.

I think there would need to be some obvious introduction stuff

1) What are the beer ingredients and what mathmatical or scientific things do they contribute

2) I definitely think a section on overall beer brewing concepts and how they fit together (Mashing, Sparging, etc. etc.)

I think a 21 and over prerequisite would be pretty crucial so you guys could share samples or something

I know you said this wouldn't be a learn to homebrew class, but maybe a course project to make a beer as a class and record all the specific numbers would be cool (obvously there are costs and tons of moving parts involved her, so not sure how it'd be feasable)

 

[Boilerfood]

I think a 21 and over prerequisite would be pretty crucial so you guys could share samples or something

I know you said this wouldn't be a learn to homebrew class, but maybe a course project to make a beer as a class and record all the specific numbers would be cool (obvously there are costs and tons of moving parts involved her, so not sure how it'd be feasable)

The Wine class I took was actually a prerequisite for a Winemaking class. Indiana is currently pushing locally made wines hard, and with Purdue being the state's Ag Outreach, the winemaking class actually learned the entire process, while using professional level equipment. This is probably a little out of the scope of what JulianB is wanting to do, but it isnt unheard of.