New law lets California students under 21 taste alcohol in the classroom

If you're under 21 in California, congratulations, you can legally drink! But, there's a catch: You must be at least 18, enrolled in an accredited beer-brewing or winemaking class, and you can only swish the drink around and not actually swallow.

Gov. Jerry Brown (D) signed AB 1989 (aka "the sip and spit" bill) into law Monday. Now, California is one of 13 states that lets students under 21 sample alcohol for educational reasons. Andrew Waterhouse, a professor in the department of viticulture and enology at UC Davis, is excited that his students can now try what they make. "It's an experience they can't really get any other way," he told NBC LA. "And it's much better if they do it in an educational setting where they can ask a lot of questions."

Tara Pattison, who studies brewing science at UC Davis, thinks being able to taste the drinks will make the end product much better. "If you cannot test the final products you will never know what mistakes you have made or, in a perfect world, didn't make," she said.

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