Brewing and Distilling – (M.Sc.)

The International Centre for Brewing and Distilling (ICBD) is a unique teaching and research facility. The centre is based on a partnership between industry and academics, and makes up part of the School of Life Sciences located in the Riccarton campus of Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh.

The ICBD is the only organisation in the UK to offer both Honours and Masters degrees in Brewing and Distilling. As such, the centre not only supplies the industry with new-blood graduates, but with services, expertise and facilities consistent with the standards required in the local, national, and international markets. A variety of courses are available both on campus and by distance learning and short courses and workshops are catered for on request.

The Brewing and Distilling MSc and Diploma are the only postgraduate brewing and distilling courses in the UK and they enjoy a distinguished reputation among industrialists and academics. Candidates are prepared for entry into the industry or to conduct research. Former students now hold a variety of senior positions in the industry, as well as running their own microbreweries.

The course introduces suitably qualified graduates to the scientific principles of malting, brewing and distilling. Candidates with a first degree of adequate content of Chemical Engineering or Biochemistry/ Microbiology are offered alternative subjects of relevance to the brewing and related industries, normally business studies. Students carry out a short project associated with our experimental malting, brewing and distilling facilities during the second term of the course. The course covers the syllabus of the Diploma in Brewing Examination of the Institute of Brewing & Distilling and successful students qualify for exemption from that examination