A $1 million gift from brewing magnate Carlos Alvarez funds a major upgrade of OSU’s research brewery, including a new, fully automated micro-brewing setup.

Research brewery acquires a new mini-malter. Built by OSU engineering students, the machine looks like a chunky R2-D2 and can malt barley in small quantities, so students and researchers can test a wide variety of recipes in small batches.

Indie Hops founders Roger Worthington and Jim Solberg donate $1 million to OSU to start a breeding program for aroma-style hops.

Hayes’s team starts probing the flavor characteristics of barley—a mild-mannered grain hitherto prized only for its starch contribution. They cross-breed two barley varieties (one is OSU’s ‘Full Pint’) and produce 200 new progeny. Then they malt each variety, make a tiny batch of beer, and subject it to taste tests.