HARRISBURG, Pa. (WTAJ) — Two colleges and one organization in our region were awarded tens of thousands of dollars in project funding from the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB).
Penn State University, Saint Francis University and the Altoona Blair County Development Corporation will receive funding for projects involving the state’s beer and wine industries. In total, Penn State was granted $649,987, Saint Francis was granted $58,960 and the Altoona Blair County Development Corporation was granted $52,500.
The funding was part of $2.2 million in grants to fund 22 projects for promoting and researching Pennsylvania beers and wines.
The below 14 beer projects were recommended to the PLCB by the Pennsylvania Malt and Brewed Beverages Industry Promotion Board and approved for funding:
| GRANT PROJECT | GRANTEE | GRANT AMOUNT |
| Cheers PA, Season 2: Penn Studios at PA Media Group will produce a second season of award-winning content for the Cheers PA brand, as well as produce individualized commercials for 150 PA craft breweries. This content includes Cheers PA Beer Tours, a web-series showcasing breweries, malters and nearby tourism stops across the commonwealth, and Cheers PA Beer Talks, a podcast interviewing industry leaders and innovators. | PA Media Group | $459,450 |
| Developing Low-Alcohol Beers with Non-Saccharomyces Yeast and High-Glucose Worts: Using alterations to mashing procedures to produce worts that have glucose as the dominant sugar rather than maltose will allow for fermentation of the worts with non-maltose utilizing yeast that produce low alcohol beers. | Pennsylvania State University | $85,543 |
| Barrel & Flow 2024: A project to build sustainable, mutually beneficial partnerships and events among Pennsylvania-based beer, wine and cider makers and black artists, performers and small business owners, which promotes, highlights and supports black talent and entrepreneurs. | Drinking Partners, LLC | $80,000 |
| Visit Bucks County Ale Trail Marketing: Bucks County’s officially designated tourism marketing agency will create new and enhanced marketing for the 26 breweries on the Bucks County Ale Trail in 2024. New content and increased advertising, including digital billboards and digital promotions, will drive traffic and increase sales by offering new and additional reasons to visit Bucks County breweries. | Bucks County Conference & Visitor Bureau | $75,000 |
| Generation of Desirable Polyfunctional Thiols in Hop-Forward Pennsylvania Beers with Exogenous Six Carbon Alkenes: Polyfunctional thiols are highly desirable aroma compounds that are important to the flavor quality of many modern styles of beer, and hops (the most expensive ingredient in brewing) are almost exclusively the sole source of these compounds. This project will explore novel ways for generating desirable polyfunctional thiols in beer without the traditional use of hops. | Pennsylvania State University | $69,918 |
| Boosting Beer Flavor Through Yeast Biotransformation of Hop Aroma Precursors: Hops, a key brewing ingredient, contain extremely potent aroma active compounds called polyfunctional thiols that are highly desirable because they contribute pleasant flavors to beer. This project will explore how yeast can be used during dry hopping as a strategy for increasing the concentrations of desirable polyfunctional thiols in beer. | Pennsylvania State University | $67,551 |
| Beer Analysis Lab: Point Park University is expanding the measurement capabilities of its beer analysis lab service by adding industry-standard instrumentation in areas including dissolved gas detection and percent alcohol by volume. This adds to existing beer-spoilage detection capabilities and provides area craft brewers easy and cost-effective access to third-party testing that can help ensure product quality and labeling accuracy without making large investments in equipment and space, simultaneously providing opportunities for undergraduate students to gain meaningful laboratory experience. | Point Park University | $65,349 |
| Montco Makers Passport: The Valley Forge Tourism & Convention Board will launch a year-long, multimedia campaign to drive visits to Montgomery County breweries. Usage of the Montco Makers Passport will grow and promote the malt and brewed beverage industry in Montgomery County and integrate brewers into the larger tourism economy. | Valley Forge Tourism & Convention Board | $60,000 |
| The Pennsylvania Greater Alleghenies Ridge and Valley Fermentation Trails: The Pennsylvania Greater Alleghenies Ridge and Valley Fermentation Trails will promote the breweries, wineries and distilleries of Armstrong, Bedford, Blair, Cambria, Fulton, Huntingdon, Indiana, Juniata, and Mifflin counties to increase tourism, vibrancy and revenue. | Altoona Blair County Development Corporation | $52,500 |
| Pittsburgh Brewery Guide: Creation of an interactive digital version of the popular printed Pittsburgh Brewery Guide, which rewards beer lovers for visiting Allegheny County breweries. Project will also offer training programs for Pittsburgh Brewers Guild members and support periodic traveling beer markets that feature local breweries. | Pittsburgh Brewers Guild | $49,500 |
| Brew Barons Beer Trail Marketing: Visit Hershey & Harrisburg will introduce the Brew Barons Beer Trail and free mobile passport to a broader regional audience by expanding its digital, social, and search marketing campaign into Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, D.C. With more than 30 craft breweries within 20 minutes of Hershey and Harrisburg, the Hershey/Harrisburg Region is in position to be recognized as a premiere craft beer tour and tasting destination. | Visit Hershey & Harrisburg | $45,000 |
| Alcoholic Beverage Analysis Lab: With the purchase of a 15-gallon pilot brewing system, a 15-gallon fermenter, and a UV-Vis spectrophotometer, Saint Francis University will train students and serve the local brewing community with equipment and expertise. | Saint Francis University | $31,460 |
| Establishing a Set of Online Brewing Certificates: Saint Francis University is launching an online brewing micro-credential and starting an online certificate program to train entry level brewhouse workers. | Saint Francis University | $27,500 |
| Lancaster County Ale Trail and Passport: Through direct marketing of its ale trail and expanded social media advertising and website development, the Lancaster County Brewers Guild aims to increase revenue for its members in 2024 and establish a network of brewers and industry peers. | Lancaster County Brewers Guild | $10,000 |
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The below eight wine projects were recommended by the Pennsylvania Wine Marketing and Research Board and approved for funding:
| GRANT PROJECT | GRANTEE | GRANT AMOUNT |
| Regional Marketing Strategy for Pennsylvania Wines: Promoting and marketing to wine enthusiasts, through various marketing strategies, to create positive impressions and educate consumers about the diversity of the PA wine industry. | Pennsylvania Winery Association | $544,489 |
| Evaluating bird deterrent measures in a vineyard setting: Bird depredation of grapes is a widespread and recurrent problem in vineyards across Pennsylvania and can lead to significant crop losses. This project will optimize the use of an alternative bird deterrent product by assessing its efficacy in protecting grapes from bird damage and understanding if and how its applications affect grape and wine chemistry. | Pennsylvania State University | $86,321 |
| Sensory Analysis of Exogenous Acetaldehyde Mediated Tannin Elongation in Red Wine: During wine aging, the mouthfeel softens and changes due in part to reactions with acetaldehyde. This work will build on previous success directly enhancing this process, and evaluate the sensory impacts of acetaldehyde mediated accelerated aging. | Pennsylvania State University | $77,932 |
| Evaluation of grapevine nutrient levels and development of grapevine nutrient sufficiency ranges in Pennsylvania: The aim of this project is to develop a better understanding of grapevine nutrient concentration ranges in leaf blades and petioles across Pennsylvania vineyards. | Pennsylvania State University | $77,849 |
| Investigating Novel Approaches for Remediating Hydrogen Sulfide Formation in Pennsylvania Wines: Hydrogen sulfide is a common technical fault that imparts a rotten egg character to wines and is exceedingly difficult to fully remove. This project will explore how a simple, inexpensive, food-grade additive prepared from grape leaves can be used to remediate hydrogen sulfide issues in Pennsylvania wines. | Pennsylvania State University | $69,558 |
| Understanding Vine Deacclimation to Mitigate Spring Frost Damage across Pennsylvania: Frost damage is a recurrent economic issue limiting the amount of grapes produced in the eastern US. This project will help growers predict loss of cold hardiness and the timing of budbreak for grape cultivars widely grown across Pennsylvania and provide them with tools to reduce the risk of spring frost damage. | Pennsylvania State University | $60,246 |
| Testing the Effect of Trichoderma to Control Powdery Mildew and Promote Vine Health in Pennsylvania Wine Grapes: Mildew pathogens cause severe damage on wine grapes in Pennsylvania and there is an urgent need to research how biopesticides in combination with fungicides can suppress disease in susceptible varietals. | Pennsylvania State University | $55,069 |
| Increasing Purchases of Pennsylvania Wine – A Mixed Methods Investigation and Experiment of the Millennial and Generation Z Consumer: A research team at East Stroudsburg University will investigate Millennial and Generation Z wine drinkers to understand how Pennsylvania wineries can attract and retain those customers. | East Stroudsburg University | $27,980 |
More information about the funding can be found on the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board website.
