Brewing Beer is required for an engineering course at the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis.

“I have four teams of five students that brew beers,” said Ray Ehrhard, senior lecturer of energy, environmental & chemical engineering.

The “Introduction to Zymurgy” course allows students to learn principles of chemistry while brewing their own ales and stouts. Zymurgy is the study of fermentation in brewing or distilling The course is designed for seniors in the Department of Energy, Environmental & Chemical Engineering.

“The fundamentals behind brewing beer are chemical and environmental engineering processes,” said Vijay Ramani, PhD, professor. “In chemical engineering you do things like extraction and concepts like heat transfer.”

While the brewing process is scientific, students have creative freedom with the type of beer they brew and the flavors they include in their recipes. The students also tour breweries and learn about being entrepreneurs.