JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – Wondering just how popular breweries have become?
In 2020, taprooms alone produced over 1.8 million barrels – that’s more than 55 million
gallons – of beer, the Brewer’s Association reported.
Over the summer, Tennessee Hills Brewing and Distilling opened a new location on West
Walnut Street, the site of a $33 million investment project by the City of Johnson
City aimed at revitalizing the space that connects downtown with East Tennessee State
University.
And now at ETSU, students have the opportunity to minor in Brewing and Distillation
Studies. ETSU and Tennessee Hills officials announced the creation of this new minor
during a news conference earlier today.
“This exciting minor will enable our students to find success in the craft beverage
industry,” said Dr. Sharon James McGee, dean of the College of Graduate and Continuing Studies at ETSU. “There is so much science and business training that students need to be
successful in this field, and ETSU is providing it. The Division of Cross-Disciplinary
Studies is proud to be the home for this undergraduate minor that draws from courses
across the university to provide students a grounding in all aspects of brewing and
distillation.”
Students choosing this minor must complete 21 credits. The first required course in
the major, “Introduction to Brewing and Distillation Studies,” will be offered in
the Spring 2022 semester.
The courses are wide-ranging. In the minor, students will study fermentation science,
business, marketing, entrepreneurship, and the cultural and historical aspects of
brewing and distillation in this region and beyond. In addition, students will work
through the legal, ethical and social aspects of alcohol consumption, as well as the
effects on both communities and economies.
At ETSU, learning goes beyond the classroom. Students will get hands-on experience
thanks to the university’s relationship with Tennessee Hills, where some students
are already interning.
“Tennessee Hills is humbled yet very proud to help a great university like ETSU provide
its students with world-class experiential learning opportunities in the rapidly growing
distillation and fermentation sciences fields,” CEO of Tennessee Hills Scott Andrew
and President and founder Stephen Callahan said in a joint statement. “Northeast Tennessee
has been a cultured home to these craft sciences for over 200 years and there is no
better place than ETSU and these great ‘Tennessee Hills’ to make something like this
happen.”
ETSU Provost and Senior Vice President for Academics Dr. Kimberly D. McCorkle said
the new minor is a key workforce development initiative.
“This is a unique educational program that we developed through listening to the needs
of regional industries,” McCorkle said. “People are not necessarily training for this
in northeast Tennessee, so we are helping to fill that void. Meeting the workforce
needs of the Appalachian Highlands goes directly to the core of what this institution
has been doing for more than 100 years, and we are grateful to Tennessee Hills for
partnering with us on this venture and for investing in the future of our students.”
Have questions about this minor? Visit https://bit.ly/3HEF8sj for additional information.