This past spring semester, I had a chance to take Chem180, beer and brewing. To condense the class into a sentence, it taught me everything I needed to know to go out and brew an all-grain batch of beer right out the chute…and I got an A.

My first batch was an American Pale Ale. It turned out a little bitter as the American styles normally do. And, it had a distinct off-taste but otherwise was totally drinkable. I had a small party with about 12 people and floated my 5 gallon...