Here are the Brewers Association 2020 research grant recipients

The Brewers Association — a not-for-profit trade association dedicated to small and independent American brewers by this definition — has selected the recipients of its 2020 Research and Service Grants Program to help fund the development of a healthy and sustainable raw materials supply chain. This year, 13 grants totaling $389,370 were awarded to eight barley and four hops projects and, new for 2020, one draught quality project.

“Research and development projects that address public barley and hop variety development, the changing agricultural landscape and draught quality are critical to the success and of our brewing community,” said Bob Pease, president and CEO, Brewers Association. “We are proud to continue our commitment to a sustainable and healthy supply chain by funding these outstanding projects.”

Since the inception of the grant program in 2015, the Brewers Association has invested more than $2 million in support of over 90 projects. Funding has supported public barley and hop variety development, hop disease and hop aroma research, as well as affiliated national and state-level grower organizations.

“The support of the Brewers Association is an essential element of our research portfolio — it maximizes the likelihood of developing varieties meeting agronomic, quality and flavor expectations of the craft industry while simultaneously addressing the challenges of dynamic growing conditions,” said Dr. Patrick Hayes, professor, crop and soil science, Oregon State University. “This funding will allow us to accelerate the development and release of winter and facultative two-row malting barley varieties.”

2020 grant recipients 

See complete summary here.

Barley 

Building a Winter Malting Barley Market for the Great Plains

• Partner(s): University of Nebraska-Lincoln
• Principal(s): Stephen Baenziger

Impact of Storage on Malting Quality and Seed Dormancy in Pre-Harvest Sprouting Resistant Spring Barley

• Partner(s): Cornell University Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics
• Principal(s): Mark Sorrells

Interaction Between Barley Genetics and Malt Process Impact on Flavor

• Partner(s): Montana State University
• Principal(s): Jamie Sherman

Winter and Spring Two-Row Malt for Conventional and Organic Systems

• Partner(s): Montana State University
• Principal(s): Jed Eberly

Using Marker-Assisted Selection to Develop Malting Quality Barley Varieties for Conventional and Organic Agriculture

• Partner(s): University of California, Davis
• Principal(s): Alicia del Blanco

Continued Support for the Development of Two- and Six-Rowed Winter Malt Barley Varieties for the Eastern U.S.

• Partner(s): Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
• Principal(s): Carl Griffey

Deeper Explorations of Barley and Terroir Contributions to Beer Flavor

• Partner(s): Oregon State University
• Principal(s): Pat Hayes

Identifying Spring Malting Barley Varieties for the Craft Brewing Industries

• Partner(s): North Dakota State University
• Principal(s): Richard Horsley

Hops

Multifaceted Impacts of Nitrogen and Sulfur Fertility on Hop Productivity, Quality, and Brewing Characteristics

• Partner(s): US Department of Agriculture; Oregon State University
• Principal(s): David Gent

Mapping Novel Loci for Powdery Mildew Resistance in Hops

• Partner(s): University of Minnesota
• Principal(s): Gary Muehlbauer

Controlling Hop Enzymatic Potential – Hop Kilning and Brewery Treatments

• Partner(s): Oregon State University 
• Principal(s): Thomas Shellhammer

Analysis of Various Metabolites in Hops as Potential Key Parameter for Thiol and Ester Release by Yeast During Beer Fermentation

• Partner(s): Nyseos, Barth-Haas Group
• Principal(s): Laurent Dagan, Christina Schoenberger

Draught beer quality

Evaluation of Biofilm Growth in Chemically Treated Beer Draught Tubing

• Partner(s): Montana State University, Center for Biofilm Engineering 
• Principal(s): Darla Goeres

Proposals for 2021 calendar year funding will be accepted from March 1, 2020, until May 31, 2020, and can be submitted on the Brewers Association website.