Check out the hop and barley research grants the Brewers Association awarded for 2019 (more than half a mill)

The Brewers Association (BA) — the not-for-profit trade association dedicated to small and independent American brewers — recently announced the recipients of its 2019 Research and Service Grants Program, designed to further the development of a healthy and sustainable raw materials supply chain. This year, 17 grants totaling $509,058 were awarded to researchers and organizations across the country.

“Ensuring a healthy supply chain is critical for our members,” said Bob Pease, president & CEO, Brewers Association. “As the agricultural landscape weathers a number of challenges, the Brewers Association is proud to fund grants that will enhance beer production and enable a more sustainable future.”

The BA has provided more than $1.7 million in funding for 77 projects since the inception of the grant program in 2015. Funding has supported research and service grants addressing public barley and hop variety development, hop disease and hop aroma, as well as supporting affiliated national and state-level grower organizations.

“We are grateful to the Brewers Association for the grant ‘Stable and Sustainable Dryland Production of High Quality Malt Barley’ to Montana State University,” said Dr. Jamie Sherman, assistant professor, Plant Sciences and Plant Pathology, Montana State University. “The support of the Brewers Association will enable the creation of barley lines with high malt quality under dryland conditions. Ultimately, the grant will increase sustainable production of barley by reducing water use. Dryland production is important to the long-term security of the barley supply chain particularly for Montana where 80 percent of available acres are dryland.”

2019 Grant Recipients (please see complete summary here)

Barley

Building a Winter Malting Barley Market for the Great Plains

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

Characterization of Genotype by Environment Interaction for Malting Quality in New York State

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

Stable and Sustainable Dryland Production of High-Quality Malt Barley

Partner(s): Montant State University
Principal: Jamie Sherman

Interaction Between Barley Genetics and Malt Process Impact on Flavor

Partner(s): Montana State University
Principal: Hannah Turner

Winter and Spring 2-Row Malt for Conventional and Organic Systems

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

Improving Malting Quality in Two-Rowed Barley by Reducing Grain Protein and β-Glucan Content Through Marker Assisted Backcrossing

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

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

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

Evaluating a Multi-State Breeding Project to Produce Local Malting Barley for the Craft Brewing Industry

Partner(s): University of Minnesota
Principal: Kevin Smith

The Continuing Quest for Flavor: From the Oregon Promise to the Romp of Otters

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

Enhancement of Winter Hardiness in Two-Rowed Barley Germplasm for the Craft Brewing Industry

Partner(s): University of Minnesota
Principal: Brain Steffenson

Identifying Spring Malting Barley Varieties for the Craft Brewing Industries

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

Effects of Variety by Malting Interactions on the Malt and Beer Metabolome

Partner(s): Colorado State University
Principal: Adam Heuberger

Metabolomics and Genomics Analysis of the ‘Romp of Otters’ Barley Flavor Project

Partner(s): Colorado State University
Principal: Adam Heuberger

Hops

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

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

Mapping Novel Loci for Powdery Mildew Resistance in Hops

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

Development and Application of Cost-Effective DNA-Based Markers for Hops

Partner(s): USDA-ARS National Clonal Germplasm Repository
Principal: Nahla V. Bassil

Development of Thiols and Thiol Precursors in Different Hop Varieties During Hop Harvest and their Impact on Beer Flavor

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

Proposals for 2020 calendar year funding will be accepted from March 1, 2019 until May 31, 2019 and can be submitted on the Brewers Association website.