---
title: The Brew Believer Leading UMD’s Fermentation Lab
date: 2025-11-24T05:30:00-05:00
author: University of Maryland
canonical_url: "https://today.umd.edu/the-brew-believer-leading-umds-fermentation-lab"
section: Articles
---
# The Brew Believer Leading UMD’s Fermentation Lab

*November 24, 2025* — by [Maryland Today Staff](/author/maryland-today-staff)


> Lecturer Teaches the Art and Science of Thousands-Years-Old Craft

[Peer Review: Tom Flores](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHCMrJHi5-Y)



Tom Flores '92 started out as a young home brewer. Now after decades in the business, he's showing University of Maryland students that the craft isn't all about beer.

Now a lecturer in the Department of Nutrition and Food Science and the Department of Plant Science and Landscape Architecture, he works in UMD's Fermentation Science Laboratory, sharing the fundamentals of a field that spans cheese to kimchi to kefir.




**Topics:** [Campus & Community](https://today.umd.edu/tags/campus-community)


**Tags:** [Plant Science and Landscape Architecture](https://today.umd.edu/topic/plant-science-and-landscape-architecture), [Student Experience](https://today.umd.edu/topic/student-experience)


**Units:** [College of Agriculture and Natural Resources](https://today.umd.edu/topic/college-agriculture-and-natural-resources)