Early in October, final-year Micro-biology students from the University of the Free State visited an Ab Inbev (formerly known as SABMiller) brewery in Krugersdorp, as well as the World of Beer in Johannesburg. The aim of this academic tour was to bridge the gap between the classroom and industry.

What we can learn from beer…

“The fermentation process that is used to produce beer is one of the key processes of most living organisms,” Prof Koos Albertyn from the Department of Microbiology, Microbial and Food Biotechnology’s Microbiology division explains. “And since beer is such an interesting product, students are fascinated by it – especially the scale at which their classroom knowledge comes to life.”

This yearly event is made possible by Prof Bettie Lodolo, the Central Laboratory manager for the Africa Zone of AB InBev, and affiliated professor at the Department of Biotechnology at the UFS. She presented a lecture to the students, before taking them on an extensive tour of the Chamdor brewery that bottles 50 000 beers per hour.

Big, bigger, beer!

AB InBev is one of the biggest companies in the world, producing one out of every three to four beers sold worldwide. Their entry into the South African market, promises to introduce a wide variety of lager and ale styles. “There are more lager and ale styles that we will be exposed to than there are elements on the periodic table,” Prof Albertyn says

Consistency in taste during beer production is also captivating – to maintain taste across regions and countries, while producing such large volumes of the product, requires exceptional skills and processes. Our students are very privileged to experience this first hand. And of course, they bring back knowledge to our own micro-brewery on campus.