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CARBONDALE, Ill. (AP) — Giovanni Ravenna and Nick Galindo kept watch as the temperature crept toward 150 degrees.
It was an otherwise normal day in chemistry professor Dr. Matt McCarroll's lab. SIU students gathered in small teams around hot plates to watch chemical reactions in beakers.
But far from synthesizing polymers or conjuring chemiluminescence, McCarroll's students had a tastier end product on the brain — beer.
"The beer and brewing kind of causes them to accidentally learn chemistry," McCarroll said.
It's all part of SIU's new Fermentation Science Institute, a group that supports education and research related to fermentation industries, such as craft brewing, distilling, cheese-making and pharmaceuticals. And now, McCarroll is making a push to start a fermentation degree program.
It's a curriculum he thinks will position students for jobs in up-and-coming industries like craft brewing.
"The fermentation-related industry is a perfect partnership between science, technology and agriculture," he said. "As we're seeing with the breweries popping up, this represents a new growth area for local and regional development. The university has the potential to really help."
According to the Brewers Association, a trade group that promotes independent breweries, the craft industry grew by 20 percent, to $14.3 billion in retail dollar value, from 2012 to 2013. And production has nearly doubled since 2007, with 15.6 million barrels brewed in 2013 alone.
McCarroll said brewers of all sizes are looking for young professionals skilled in the art of fermentation, and SIU would become one of only a handful of colleges throughout the U.S. to offer a fermentation degree program.
"There's a huge amount of students that would like to go into fermentation-related industries," he said. "Getting jobs at some of the more desirable employers can be competitive, so having the degree can give them an advantage and give them the tools to succeed once they get the jobs."
McCarroll said he's already developing research partnerships with Budweiser and St. Louis-based Schlafly's.
McCarroll has taught "The Chemistry of Beer and Brewing" since 2011. The Fermentation Science Institute was launched in August.
The proposed degree program will have to go through approval processes, both at SIU and the State Board of Higher Education, but McCarroll said he hopes to get the green light by the start of fall term this year.
For students like Ravenna, it's an exciting prospect. The Elmhurst native is studying restaurant management.
"If you sell something, you should always know how it's made," he said. "And it never hurts to know how to make your own beer."
About 30 minutes into the experiment, which challenged students to make a mash by heating a mixture of barley and water, Ravenna and Galindo's mixture reached its target temperature.
"I think I got it," said Galindo, a senior studying photojournalism and English. "I think I dialed it perfectly. It's hovering right around 150."
Ravenna said learning the science behind brewing makes the craft that much more enjoyable.
"I love it," he said. "It's interesting that (the class) tells you the chemistry of an everyday item. You get to see how complex it is to make something that seems so simple."
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Source: The (Carbondale) Southern Illinoisan, http://bit.ly/1yGhq29 .
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Information from: Southern Illinoisan, http://www.southernillinoisan.com
This is an Illinois Exchange story offered by The (Carbondale) Southern Illinoisan.
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