“Go to class and then come out of it, everybody’s like, ‘How’s your day?’” Chris Lehr, a Fermentation Science student and CMU Business Major Senior, said. “I’m like, ‘Well, ‘I brewed beer all day. It’s awesome.’”

There's something brewing in Mount Pleasant. It's student-made beer.



Some people may think college students and beer are not a good mixture but for Central Michigan University, that mixture is helping students find jobs in an ever-growing industry. Students gathered at Hunter's Ale House in Mount Pleasant Wednesday for class.

It's part of a 16 credit fermentation science course that Central Michigan University launched in the Fall Semester of 2015. Cordell DeMattei, CMU's Director of Fermentation Science who teaches the course, says they were the first ones to announce a program of this kind in Michigan.

Students learned the biochemistry and microbiology of the fermentation process in a lecture course, along with having an analytic lab where students learned techniques for analyzing ingredients last semester.

This semester, students are utilizing space in Hunter's Ale House. CMU has its own equipment where students are making their own beer.

"Go to class and then come out of it, everybody's like, 'How's your day?'" Chris Lehr, a Fermentation Science student and CMU Business Major Senior, said. "I'm like, 'Well, 'I brewed beer all day. It's awesome.'"

DeMattei has a Phd. in Microbiology and Molecular Genetics.

"I really like the science and I really like beer," DeMattei said. "So, bringing the two together is really great to teach the students and to get them excited not only about the beer but about the science behind the beer and the quality control, making a really good product here in Michigan."

Wednesday was the first day for the students to keg the beer they've been fermenting for two weeks.

"They came to me and asked if I would be interested in hosting it," Cheryl Hunter, Hunter's Handmade Brewery owner, said. "Of course, it was an immediate, 'Yes.' I knew that we had right the right format here at Hunter's Ale House, in order to help the university in building their brewing school. I think that the building, the making of beer, is going to be very good for the economy for the state of Michigan."

DeMattei says the brewing industry has been exploding over the past decade. He says there are now more than 250 breweries in the state and that the industry brings in more than one-billion-dollars in revenue to Michigan's economy.

"I think that these kind of careers are things that people are really interested in and passionate about in bringing a good product to the Michigan state," Lehr said. "

For Lehr and his classmates, their Michigan-made beer will be on tap next Friday at Hunter's Ale House.

CMU also told us students are required to be 'brethalyzed' before they leave class if they're sampling the beer that day.

Students are also required to take an internship in the summer that's brewery-related to complete the course. One of the 13 students in the class plans on starting his own brewery.