Mastering the Art and Science of Brewing Online and in the Brewhouse

“For someone starting fresh, like me, the Master Brewers Program takes you on a journey,” said Vinay Bhore, an engineer and part-time brewing professional who recently completed the program. 

Brewing is a combination of scientific principles and creative expression. It’s a blend of art and science, balancing flavor and craftsmanship with the nuances of malting, fermentation and brewery engineering. The online Master Brewers Certificate Program at UC Davis Continuing and Professional Education bridges the two. 

“From beginner to expert, the program points out the intricacies and delicacies of both the science and the art of brewing.” 

Learning the Science 

The online Master Brewers Certificate Program gives brewers a strong foundation in microbiology, chemistry, engineering and sensory analysis. 

“I started with homebrewing. But as a homebrewer, you don’t really know what to look for in your process,” said Vinay. “I wanted to learn the science behind it.” 

“This program walks you through what to expect at every stage,” he said. “It teaches you how to do a Q&A of your product, how to monitor and structure your process and how to understand the science.” 

“All the little tips and tricks—like why certain things happen in brewing and how to avoid problems—that kind of knowledge isn’t found anywhere else. It only comes from experts,” said Vinay. 

Like Vinay, Aanchal Sing had a personal interest in learning the science behind brewing. When sourdough baking left her wanting to learn more about fermentation, she turned to brewing. 

“I fell in love with the science,” she said. 

While Aanchal doesn’t work in the brewing industry directly, she works closely with brewers and decided to take the next step in her brewing education with UC Davis’ online brewing program. 

“I was very impressed with the quality of education,” said Aanchal. “There were people like me, with zero background, to experts who were just trying to hone in on the theoretical aspect.” 

For Larry Bolton, the flexibility of the online program stood out. As a “pro” homebrewer with hundreds of medals hanging in his basement brewery, Larry wanted to deepen his knowledge with formal training. 

“I wanted to learn as much as I could,” he said. “I knew that UC Davis and Siebel had in-person programs, but I couldn’t just take off for three or four months with two kids and a wife at home. This program was perfect.” 

“I enjoyed learning the nuts and bolts of the science behind brewing and the sensory class,” said Larry. “My homebrew club runs a competition every year and finding judges who are good at giving feedback is hard. This class got me thinking about how to talk about beer, how to describe it and why. It gave us a common lexicon and taught us how to run a sensory panel, which will be useful in the future.” 

Bringing It to Life 

For brewers in the online brewing program, the in-person bootcamp is the moment theory comes to life. 

“In the online program, we learn everything about brewing on the theoretical side. But it’s different in theory than being in a brewery and doing it all hands-on,” said Samantha Simpson, who appreciated the bootcamp and getting to work on actual equipment. 

“I’ve shadowed brewers before, but I’ve never been the person to get to pull the levers and do everything,” said Samantha. “The bootcamp gives you a whole different world of knowledge. Seeing it in a picture is different than looking underneath the tank and following the lines. You can talk about it all day, but until you get in there and follow the line from one tank to the next, you don’t really understand it.” 

“Brewing is inherently a hands-on profession, whether you're a brewer, or working in the cellar or in the lab,” said UC Davis brewing bootcamp instructor Jordan Beaver. “Most of the production and quality control side of working in a brewery requires someone putting in the actual work, and the Master Brewers Bootcamp is designed to give students a crash course in the hands-on application of working in a brewery setting.” 

It’s this hands-on focus that Leonardo Macedonia craved. 

“I wanted that kind of real exposure to working in a brewery,” he said. “Most of my experience has been from home, so being in a real brewhouse for the first time is a game changer.” 

Diego Velasquez, a professional brewer with plenty of hands-on experience, was also eager to participate in the bootcamp—not just for the opportunity to work in UC Davis’ cutting-edge1.5-barrel brewhouse, but to network with other passionate brewers. 

“I wanted to meet the people I’d been studying with online and pick their brains. See what they learned. Share ideas,” he said. “I just wanted to be around people who think differently.” 

“I started feeling like I was missing something just working commercially,” added Diego. “This program helped fill in those gaps. And working on the system at UC Davis? It’s one-of-a-kind. All hard-typed, high-tech and super dialed-in. I probably won’t work on anything like that again.” 

More Student Voices

Hear from more of our Master Brewers Program alumni.

Building Careers and Confidence

During the bootcamp, students build skills and confidence in a controlled setting—making beer from start to finish. 

“The best thing about this is that it's absolutely OK to make mistakes or try something new that a large-scale brewery might not want to test out at production scale,” said Jordan. “The beers that don’t turn out the way you want often end up being a valuable teaching moment.” 

For Samantha, whose goal is to own a brewery, and for Leonardo, who wants to enter the brewing industry, the bootcamp is a steppingstone to achieving their goals. 

“This bootcamp is helping me build a foundation, meet like-minded people and get on the right track professionally,” said Leonardo. “It’s the perfect next step.” 

Even for students like Larry, who was invited to brew professionally partway through the program, the bootcamp offered practical guidance to help him grow his career. 

“When I signed up for this, I had no professional experience,” he said. “There’s a lot of equipment UC Davis has here—expensive equipment—that I just won’t have access to anytime soon. But now, I’ll have an idea of what we’re looking for if we ever start sourcing different equipment or tools.” 

According to Jordan, the bootcamp is an ideal introduction to large-scale production. 

“Pretty much everything we have in the Davis brewery is a scaled-down version of what you could see in a commercial brewery and laboratory,” he said. “For homebrewers, it demystifies the transition to the volume increase with commercial brewing companies, and for those already in the industry, it’s a chance to play around with different equipment and techniques that may seem a little too intimidating to test out on your own.” 

From in-depth online coursework to hands-on application, UC Davis’ online Master Brewers Certificate and bootcamp transform passion to profession. 

“If you’re serious about brewing as a profession or a career,” said Vinay, “this is the path you want to take.”

• Related article: Inside the Master Brewers Program: Real Stories, Hard-Earned Insights
• Related article: How to Craft Your Career in the Brewing Industry