Penn State Researchers Get State Grants to Help Enhance Pennsylvania Beers

Beer lovers rejoice: New state grants to Penn State are dedicated to making your favorite brews just a little bit better.

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf last week announced $705,000 in grants from the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board for developing and promoting Pennsylvania beers.

Among the grants is $70,000 for Penn State to develop improved drying technologies for beer hops.

The grant will support the “development of research-based recommendations for dehydrating fresh hops with a focus on preserving hop aroma compounds currently in demand by Pennsylvania breweries.”

The grant program is dedicated to growing the brewing industry in Pennsylvania through increasing production in addition to promotion, marketing, and research-based programs and projects.

“Brewing beer is an important industry to Pennsylvania’s economy that is growing,” Wolf said in a release. “These grants build on the bipartisan efforts to modernize our beer laws and support the industry to create job opportunities from the farm to the brewery, pub and grocery store.”

Penn State also received a $65,000 grant to evaluate the effects of fungicides on the final quality of hops and the beer brewed with those hops. All the grant projects Wolf announced were recommended for approval by the Pennsylvania Malt and Brewed Beverages Industry Promotion Board.

“With 300 licensed breweries and a 300 percent increase in breweries in the past six years alone, brewing beer is a $5.8 billion industry in Pennsylvania,” Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding said in a release. “The grants PLCB awarded today pave the way for continued growth in Pennsylvania’s malt and brewed beverage industry.”