Craft Beverage Council awards grants to support Michigan craft beer, hard cider, spirits, and wine industries
DETROIT (FOX 2) - Michigan’s craft beer, hard cider, spirits, and wine industries are getting a boost from research grant money.
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The state's Craft Beverage Council recommended $335,000 in project support for research and education to advance agricultural inputs for the craft alcohol industries.
Thirteen projects were selected to receive money. The projects leverage more than $170,000 in matching funds.
Six of the selected projects are continuations from 2021 and 2020.
According to the Michigan Craft Beverage Council, the research grants align with its goals, including climate change impacts; crop quality including pest and disease management and soil health; new varieties of hops, fruit, barley, rye, and other agricultural inputs used in craft beverage production; and sustainable water use and wastewater discharge projects.
Selected projects to receive grant funding:
- New apple varieties for Michigan hard cider production
- Evaluation of corn varieties for the Michigan craft distilling industry
- Evaluation of new herbicide in Michigan hops for crop safety and weed control
- Ongoing evaluation of winter hardiness to advance winter malting barley as a climate adaptation strategy in Michigan
- Role of planting date and seeding rate in optimizing winter survival, yield, and quality of malting barley
- Evaluating terroir of rye whiskey in Michigan – Genotype x
- Evaluation of apple fruit rot control and of the diversity of wild yeast populations on cider and dessert apple varieties and outcomes on fermentation
- Field scale management of late season cluster rots to increase crop quality of Michigan wine grapes
- Monitoring statewide grapevine cold hardiness evaluations to develop the Michigan grapevine cold hardiness model
- Michigan grape and wine industry educational project
- Reducing fungicide inputs without sacrificing late season disease management and crop quality in Michigan hop and barley production
- Evaluation of a greenhouse ecosystem to manage craft beverage wastewater
- Education and training for P45 wine grape growers