FRIDAY IS INTERNATIONAL BEER DAY , AND WE THOUGHT WE’D GET THE CELEBRATION STARTED EARLY WITH
SOMETHING REALLY UNIQUE. NOW
WHEN YOU HEAR BEER AND COLLEGE,
ALL KINDS OF VISIONS MAY COME TO
MIND. HOWEVER EASTERN MICHIGAN
UNIVERSITY HAS SOMETHING MUCH
DIFFERENT BREWING ON THEIR
CAMPUS. THEY OFFER A FOUR YEAR
FERMENTATION SCIENCE DEGREE
PROGRAM. AND THEY RECENTLY WON
FOURTH PLACE AT THE US OPEN
COLLEGE BEER CHAMPIONSHIPS,
WHICH IS AWESOME TO LEARN MORE.
WE ARE JOINED BY PROFESSOR COREY
EMAIL. PROFESSOR OF BEER. I WAS
TEASING YOU ON CAMERA, WHICH IS
A REALLY COOL TITLE. HOW WOULD
YOU DESCRIBE THIS PROGRAM AT
TMU? WELL IT’S A IT’S A REAL
HANDS ON PROGRAM. WE REALLY
TEACH THE STUDENTS THE
SCIENTIFIC BASIS OF FERMENTATION
AND ALL DIFFERENT TYPES OF
FERMENTATION. SO NOT JUST BEER,
BUT FOOD FERMENTATION, BIOFUEL
PHARMACEUTICALS, THIS SORT OF
THING. OKAY, SO THIS IS A REAL
SCIENCE. YES YES. SO LET’S TALK
ABOUT SOME OF THESE INSTRUMENTS
THAT WE HAVE HERE. SO, UM WHAT
WE REALLY TRY TO DO IN THE
PROGRAM IS WE BRING TOGETHER A
LOT OF BIOLOGY AND CHEMISTRY
COURSES, SO A LOT OF DIFFERENT
HANDS ON LAB SKILLS THAT THEY
CAN TAKE INTO A BREWING
PROFESSION BUT ALSO INTO A LOT
OF OTHER DIFFERENT SCIENTIFIC
PROFESSIONS AND A LOT OF DOING
THESE FERMENTATION IS BEING ABLE
TO TAKE PRECISE MEASUREMENTS TO
REPORT DATA. MAKE SURE THAT
YOU’RE KEEPING THE QUALITY IN
THE PRODUCT THAT YOU REALLY WANT
TO DO, AND THOSE ARE REALLY
TRANSFERABLE SKILLS THAT WE TRY
TO GIVE OUR STUDENTS HERE IS NOT
A BLACK BAD PLACE TO START TO
PERFECT THE FERMENTATION AND
WHAT INGREDIENTS AND WHAT KIND
OF INGREDIENTS ARE USED FOR
THOSE FERMENTATION PROCESSES.
ALL BEERS BASICALLY HAVE FOUR
INGREDIENTS IN THEM. THERE’S
WATER, YEAST THAT DOES THE
FERMENTATION. BUT WE HAVE HERE
ARE SOME DIFFERENT GRAINS. SO
ALL OF THE COLOR AND THE
CARBOHYDRATES THAT ULTIMATELY
FORM THE ALCOHOL COME FROM THE
GRAINS THAT WE SEE IN THE FLASK.
WE’VE ALSO GOT HOPS THESE GREEN
PELLETS HERE, AND THOSE ARE WHAT
PROVIDE THE BITTERNESS AND A
FAIR AMOUNT OF THE AROMA IN IN
THE FINAL BEER AS WELL, AND
THERE’S AN ENORMOUS VARIETY OF
THESE, SO IT’S KIND OF LIKE
BEING A CHEF WITH A HUGE SPICE
DRAWER, VERY EXCITING. MAKING
DIFFERENT COMBINATIONS GIVES YOU
DIFFERENT TYPES OF BEER SO YOU
CAN CREATE YOUR OWN CONCOCTION.
END OF WHAT YOU REALLY LIKE.
ABSOLUTELY AND THAT’S REALLY
WHAT WE TRY TO TEACH THE
STUDENTS TO DO IS TO UNDERSTAND
THE SCIENCE BEHIND HOW THOSE
COMBINATIONS WERE SO THEY CAN
MAKE SOME REALLY GREAT PROJECTS.
THAT’S AWESOME. SO IS THERE A
PROPER WAY TO TASTE BEER? AS
THERE IS WITH WINE? YOU KNOW,
CANADA’S AROUND AND GLASS, SO
LET’S POUR A COUPLE OF BEERS
HERE IS SORT OF A DEMONSTRATION.
SO THESE ARE UM, BEERS THAT ARE
STUDENTS MADE THAT PLACED IN THE
U. S OPEN BEER CHAMPIONSHIP OR
POORER? LIGHT ONE. THIS IS A
COOL SH. OKAY? YEAH. I ALSO TOLD
YOU, EVERYONE HERE IN THIS
STUDIO WAS LIKE, WHERE WAS THIS
PROGRAM? WHEN I WAS IN SCHOOL,
RIGHT IT IS, YOU KNOW, COME DOWN
AND TAKE SOME CLASSES. YEAH. BUT
TREAT IT LIKE YOU TREAT WINE. UM
A NICE HEAD ON A BEER IS A GOOD
THING. YOU’RE NOT. YOU KNOW,
YOU’RE NOT GETTING LESS OF THE
PRODUCT. IT’S HELPING THE AROMA
COME OUT, BUT YOU KNOW, ALWAYS
SORT OF SMELL BEFORE YOU TASTE
AROMA LEADS INTO THE FLAVOR.
THAT SMELLS REALLY GOOD. OKAY,
SO WE HAVE UNDER A MINUTE REALLY
QUICKLY. WHAT KIND OF CAREERS DO
GRADUATES UM OF YOUR PROGRAM? GO
ONTO? WELL, WE’VE HAD STUDENTS
GO ON DIRECTLY INTO THE BREWING
INDUSTRY AS FROM THEIR
INTERNSHIPS INTO ASSOCIATE
BREWING, BUT WE’VE HAD STUDENTS
GO OUT INTO THE BIOTECH INDUSTRY
AS WELL. HELP SET UP, YOU KNOW,
ENGINEERING, ENGINEERING,
FERMENTATION SYSTEMS AND A WHOLE
VARIETY OF PARENTS. WHO ARE WE
READ ABOUT THIS GOING TO END IN
BEER. THERE’S THE POSSIBILITIES
ARE ENDLESS. NOW, WHERE CAN
PEOPLE LEARN MORE ABOUT THIS
PROGRAM AND EASTERN MICHIGAN
UNIVERSITY? JUST GOOGLE EMU
FERMENTATION? THEY’LL FIND US WE
HAVE A PARTNERSHIP WITH NAIN
ROUGE BREWING IN DETROIT AS WELL
WHERE THERE’S AN INTERNSHIP
PROGRAM THERE. IT’S ALL SEPARATE
SEARCH FOR NAIN ROUGE BREWING
SCHOOL, AND, UM, YOU YOU DON’T
HAVE TO BE 21 TO TAKE THE
COURSES EITHER. SO YOU CAN COME
RIGHT ON IT. IT GETS MORE AND
MORE INTERESTING, PROFESSOR.