The United States Association of Cider Makers announces winners of 2017 cider research grant program.

Press Release

The United States Association of Cider Makers announced the winners of their 2017cider research grant program today. Four proposals were selected for a total of $44,770 in funding. The selected proposals were:

• An investigation into the presence of hydrogen sulfide (sulfur reduction) during hard apple cider production (Appalachian State University, Fermentation Sciences)
• Impact of Nitrogen Fertilization on Orchard Productivity, Fruit Quality, CiderTannin Concentrations, and Fermentation Kinetics (Cornell University)
• Phenotyping the USDA-PGRU Malus Germplasm Collection for Novel Apples to Use in Hard Cider Production (Cornell University)
• Cider Tannins: Quantification for Sensory Impact (Virginia Tech)

The grant selection committee and the board of directors selected these proposals because of their broad relevance to the hard cider industry and the quality of their proposal narratives.

“This is only the second year we’ve released a request for research proposals, so it’s exciting to watch the program evolve. We noticed a large uptick in the quality of the applications this year, and we see a lot of potential for the projects we’ve chosen for funding. I can’t wait to hear the results of these projects at CiderCon in Baltimore next February,” said Michelle McGrath, USACM’s executive director.  

CiderCon is USACM’s annual conference, the premier gathering place for cidermakers and industry affiliates, where grant awardees are asked to attend and present their findings.

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USACM is an organization of cider and perry producers in the United States. Our mission is to grow a diverse and successful U.S. cider industry by providing valuable information, resources and services to our members and by advocating on their behalf. USACM was founded in 2013 by cider makers.