PORTLAND, Maine — 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.