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"Saying that you&amp;#039;re studying beer may have the ring of a not-so-clever party school joke, but it&amp;#039;s actually a reality for some people; brewing programs boast some serious students. Recently, Blue Ridge Community College in North Carolina added an Associate in Applied Science Degree program in Brewing, Distillation, and Fermentation that prepares enthusiastic students to enter the growing craft beer industry in Western North Carolina and across the country.   This two-year degree is  by no means the first or last dedicated to brewing, with the craft beer industry recently surging to its highest peak since just after Prohibition got the ax. According to the Colorado-based trade group Brewers Association, the craft beer&amp;#039;s dollar share of the total beer market swelled past 10 percent in 2012 and weighs in as a hefty $10 billion industry. Capitalizing on Western North Carolina&amp;#039;s prime position in this market \u2014 the area features Sierra Nevada and Oskar Blues \u2014 was only a natural move for the college, which launched the Craft Beer Academy through its Continuing Education department before developing an associates program. If you&amp;#039;re serious about expanding your home brewing hobby, this just might be the program for you. Everything from brewing to packaging is covered, sending graduates into the job market with a range of professional options. To solve the issue of inadequate hands-on time, the school hopes to eventually launch a brew house for the students, similar to that at ASU. Perhaps this is just another stepping stone for the craft brew industry, which is quickly catching up to wine. Before long we might see brewing courses at schools like Cornell that feature Viticulture programs, and even scholarship programs like there are for hopeful wine students. Whether or not these programs are your cup of tea (or mug of beer), they hold delicious promise for the craft beer consumers across the country. Read a full description of the program and its creation here. What&amp;#039;s next for craft beer? Tell us your predictions! Via: Design Taxi Find more great food content on Delish:  Search for the perfect recipe from our homepage Find out the latest food news Get a recipe book to save your favorite dishes Sign up for our free newsletters Check us out on Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter  "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.delish.com/food/news/a39663/beer-programs/>