Penn State University is offering a craft-brewing certificate program at its Berks campus where the students get to use local-sourced ingredients to craft new beer choices, according to a staff report from Beer and Brewing.

The locally sourced barley used by the first graduating class to create their “Land Grant” beer was provided by Double Eagle Malt in Huntingdon Valley.

Fawn Hill Hop Yard in Reading sourced the hops.

To celebrate their graduation, the ten Penn State students hosted a tasting of their new beer at Broken Goblet Brewing in December.

Land Grant beer was brewed at the Broken Goblet, a partner brewery of program coordinator Jeremy Myers located in Bensalem.

Brian Mills, a student in the program, explained the brewing process involved an open-fermentation approach.

He said, “The wort was transferred to an open fermentor, allowing the yeast to express its characteristics more fully. After the initial fermentation, the beer was transferred to a conical fermentor for completion. This process allowed the yeast to be more expressive.”

The certificate program consists of 8 remote classes and field trips to breweries, malt houses, and hop farms for some hands-on learning.

Courses are designed for students with at least some brewing experience.

Read more about the Penn State craft-brewing certificate program and the locally sourced barley from Double Eagle Malt at Beer and Brewing.

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