BIOL 474F students sampled beer in the name of science during a class trip to W.H. Ales, a brewpub in Bay City.
“It feels great that I can take students on such a field trip,” James McEvoy, professor of biology, said. “The students definitely enjoyed it and learned many things about yeast fermentation and beer making.”
The trip wasn’t just about tasting beer, though. It was designed to connect classroom concepts to real-life applications. The course is an upper-level elective offered by the biology department, and it includes weekly lectures and labs focused on fungal diversity, ecology, morphology and systematics.
Each year, McEvoy takes his class to tour a local brewpub to reinforce one key course outcome: understanding how fungi benefit humans.
“This experience for sure added to my understanding of mycology beyond the classroom,” senior cellular and molecular biology major Cassia Taylor said. “When I went into this class, I was naive to think that the only fungi that mattered was the mushrooms you see in the forest or the ones that grow on trees. I now understand that we actually utilize fungi to our advantages, and a major one is beer. I would have never thought beer would be so science based.”
W.H. Ales has all the necessary equipment to turn grains into beer, including a hot-water extraction vat and seven fermentation tanks. As a brewpub, W.H. Ales can serve its own beer on-site but cannot distribute it elsewhere.
“Students learn details about the brewing process [during the tour] and quickly come to the conclusion that the commercial brewing of beer is not simple; there are many variables to consider,” McEvoy said.
At 3 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 4, the visit kicked off with a meeting led by the Brew master Kelly Lambert. After, they explored the brewing room where fermentation takes place, the basement where grains are stored, and then the second floor where yeast and hops (the ingredient responsible for the flavor and aroma of beer) are kept.
“My favorite part of the brewery visit was smelling the different kinds of hops they use in the brews,” Taylor said. “Some smelled exactly like an IPA, and some smelled like Lysol to me and like fruit to someone else.”
To end the tour, participants had the opportunity to order dinner and sample different types of beer.
“[The trip] really shows how humans utilize fungi in our lives. Learning that yeast was a fungus we can use to make beer or wine was very interesting to say the least,” senior Maxwell Miller, cell biology, molecular biology, biomedical sciences major, said.
With only four weeks left of the semester, BIOL 474F students will head to the lab to lead their very own fermentation experiments, putting the knowledge they learned from both the classroom and the brewpub to the test.
“[McEvoy’s] love for this class and the students make learning about fungi fun. He gave us opportunities to make those connections of fungi outside of the classroom which you don’t get to do often.” Taylor said. “Also, every time I take a sip of beer now, I will always think of this class and just how much effort goes into making it.”
Jacie Schonert 
Kylie Acker