Eastern Kentucky University is launching a fermentation science program.
The new offering is partly in response to the growing interest in Kentucky’s craft breweries and distilleries.
Beginning with the 2015 fall semester, EKU students can take courses in fermentation science within the bachelor's degree program in chemistry. EKU Program Director Darrin Smith hopes to have a quality control lab available to craft brewers and distillers for product testing.
“We're gonna be a chemistry department that's actually gonna have a bio-chemist micro biologist that's going to be able to do specifically fermentation, so we're going to be working really hard over the summer to have those facilities up and running as soon as possible,” he said.
Smith says students will learn about product quality issues.
"Making sure that brewers are producing a consistent product, making sure that there's no off flavors that are produced from fermentation,” he said. “Making sure they don't have bacteria or micro-organisms contamination that could influence their product."
Although much attention will be given to beer, Smith says students may also study ciders and wine. He says work will be done over the summer to ready facilities for an expected 30 to 40 students in the fall.
