Crafty! Beer-testing lab helps students learn chemistry

Portland, Maine (AP) – A Maine professor is hoping to brew interest in her chemistry class by keeping the topic on beer. University of Southern Maine professor Lucille Benedict tells the  Portland Press Herald   it can be challenging to keep students engaged in chemistry, so she started using beer as a testing medium. Benedict oversees the school’s new Quality Assurance/Quality Control and Research Laboratory. The lab has partnered with the Maine Brewers Guild to provide testing and training for breweries and brewmasters. Students say the beer-testing lab allows them to use science to solve real-world problems. Classes for brewers begin in the fall. They focus on how a flawed brewing process can contaminate or ruin beer. Brewers can also send samples to the lab for testing. The lab charges $25 for basic testing.