MILWAUKEE — Marquette University has launched a new engineering course that teaches students the science of brewing and gives them a chance to craft and market their own beer.
The class is led by Mike Dollhopf, lab manager at Marquette's Water Quality Center.
"I think it's all about opening the students' eyes right, giving them a new experience that they haven't had before," Dollhopf said.
The course begins with the science of microbes and water, then incorporates Milwaukee brewing history before challenging students to market their own beers.
The class is a partnership with Broken Bat Brewery in Walker's Point and Gathering Place Brewing in Riverwest.
Watch: Marquette University engineering students crack open a new class
For engineering student Patrick O'Brien, the course bridges classroom theory and real-world application.
"This class kind of opens up your mind to a lot of the different applications that these processes can be used for, and drives innovation from that," O'Brien said.
Joe Yeado, founder of Gathering Place Brewing and a Marquette alumnus, did not study brewing in college.
"Nah, beer was always extracurricular," Yeado joked.
But Yeado said he is excited to support the students and to pick up new perspectives along the way.
"It helps me to think through a different set of fresh eyes on how to approach an obstacle or a problem," Yeado said.
Students have their recipes brewed by Broken Bat or Gathering Place, and at the end of the semester, there is a tasting party.
Student Eddy Velazquez said he sees commercial potential in what the class is producing.
"Yeah, I think this can sell," Velazquez said.
He said the hands-on experience has been personally meaningful.
"I'm actually adoring the fact that like, hey, I can actually make this and this is something I can call my own," Velazquez said.
Faculty members hope the course could lead to expanded beer education at Marquette University.
This story was reported on-air by Brendyn Jones and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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