College Credit for Beer Since the University of Wisconsin announced it would launch a class this spring on beer brewing—one of the nation's first major colleges to do so—undergraduates have been scrambling to sign up.  John Roll, who will teach the course, insists that has nothing to do with the school's reputation for beer guzzling, made evident by its No. 1 party school ranking in recent years by Playboy and Princeton Review, or by Wisconsin's binge drinking rate—the highest in the country. No, he says, interest in the course springs from the region's long history of making beer. The course, in the university's bacteriology department, will focus on fermentation rather than consumption. MillerCoors donated $100,000 in equipment that can make 10 gallons—roughly two cases—of beer at a time. So what's going to happen with the final product? "The students will sample it and critique it," Roll said. "But  we'll probably dump any excess Boston Beer Playground Thanks mainly to  a $50,000 gift from Boston Beer Co., kindergarten and first-grade students at Freetown, MA elementary school will be getting a brand-new playground next year sized just for them. Beer people really are nice!