The University of Melbourne is offering two new electives all about beer

Prepare yourself Melb Uni students – for the first time ever, The University of Melbourne will be offering two subjects all about beer. Before you get too excited, these classes aren’t just a weekly piss up. The subjects on offer will provide students with a hands-on experience into the world of beer brewing. But the course outlines do note that “Beer tasting is compulsory”, so you can get a little excited.

With an ever-growing craft beer scene in Melbourne and wider Australia, it was only a matter of time before it became an official university subject. Although short beer courses have been offered before at other institutions like Federation University and Sydney TAFE, this is the first time you can put your electives to good use, take a break from your usual compulsory subjects and learn about the wonderful world of beer.

The subjects you can enrol in   

Offered respectively in semester one and two, the subjects on offer include Beer Styles and Sensory Analysis and Principles of Brewing. In the first semester, you’ll gain a foundation for the brewing process by learning about beer history, brewing techniques and the different styles of beer. This subject is a pre-requisite to Principles of Brewing, which will be an even more hands-on experience starting from the fermentation process all the way to packaging the final product.

But seriously, how did a uni give this the green light…

It might be hard to believe that a subject all about beer could prepare students with skills for workplaces beyond working in a brewery. But according to Dr Charles Pagel, who will be running both subjects, the skills you can learn in these subjects will go beyond knowing how to brew a tasty froth.

“In these subjects, we’ll be covering agricultural production, food processing, science, economics and marketing,” he said.

Students enrolled in Principles of Brewing will get to spend half the course at UOM’s Dookie campus to gain experience in a country setting with agricultural production. Back at the Parkville campus in the second half of the subject, this is when students will get the chance to learn about the business side of beer when it comes to packaging and marketing it for sale. Time to start thinking of those beer puns for your very own label.

If you’re looking for a bludge subject, these electives aren't for you

If you’re thinking of enrolling as a chance to blow off essays, think again. Like any other uni subject, will still be assessments that involve online quizzes, project reports, practical exams, theory exams and peer reviews of your final product. Like most electives, these subjects involve a two hour lecture every week, but instead of tutorials there will be a two hour prac lesson per week. If you want to bludge, these are defs not the subjects for you – skipping classes could result in some seriously terrible beer.

Requirement: must love beer

That’s the only pre-requisite to the introduction class – the class welcomes students who may not know much about beer, simply enjoy beer or want to take on homebrewing as a new hobby. The subjects have already had an overwhelming response of interested students (who hopefully realise that their assessment won’t actually involve beer pong).

Image: The Simpsons official Facebook page