Carlow's Faculty of Science at the Institute of Technology is to launch a four-year Bachelor of Science (Honours) degree in Brewing and Distilling next September 2017.
The programme, which will be the first of its kind in Ireland, is designed to support Ireland's rapidly growing brewing and distilling industry and was designed after significant consultation with the industry, representative organisations, national bodies and the government.
To run alongside the degree course there are a variety of development programmes such as Yeast Biology, Malting and Brewing Raw Materials, The Brewing Process, Distillation and Distilled Spirits Production as well as Post Distillation Downstream Processing.
The four-year degree is expected to be the first of many programmes in this area, targeting both national and international students, and is to build on Carlow's reputation for bioscience degrees.
Ireland's brewing and distilling industry has seen whiskey exports up by 60% since 2009 and direct employment in the area is expected to grow up to 30% by 2025. Currently there is 28 distilleries operating or being developed in Ireland and 100 microbreweries expected to open by 2025, according to Food Wise 2025. There are also plans to invest €1 billion in the whiskey industry which will help grow its market share by 300%.
"The BSc Honours degree programme in Brewing and Distilling at Institute of Technology Carlow has a multi-disciplinary curriculum including: Brewing Biochemistry; Microbiology; Brewery Process Control; Fermentation Science; Quality Assurance; Distillation Theory; Marketing and industrial work experience. The breadth of subjects and practical work experience will more than equip graduates with the knowledge and skills to fill a range of roles in the rapidly expanding craft brewing and distilling sector," said Dr Gearoid Cahill, the European director of brewing science at Alltech.
