Research
Trained in a variety of areas - from engineering to public health, chemistry to business, design to horticulture - our experts are coming together with one common goal: to maintain the prosperity and sustainability of Kentucky spirits for generations to come.
We are a single point of contact for industry professionals to access essential information. Our researchers are available for research and development, third-party testing and long-term experimental systems.
Industry Partners
In addition to the projects listed here, we have many collaborations with industry partners across the state such as: Jim Beam, Bardstown Bourbon Company, Wild Turkey Distillery, Four Roses Distillery, Vendome Copper & Brassworks Inc., Castle and Key Distillery, Buffalo Trace Distillery, Wilderness Trail Distillery, James E. Pepper Distillery and Heaven Hill Distillery.
How can we help?
The Beam Institute offers the following services for a fee:
- Electron Microscopy Center
- Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Center
- Mass Spectrometry Facility
- Food Systems Innnovation Center
- Educe Lab - Heritage Science
To learn more about these services, please contact Dr. Brad Berron, Institute Research Director.
Current Projects
The characteristic oak barrels used to age bourbon are held together with steel hoops. In specific instances, these hoops can break from excessive corrosion, and the entire barrel of aged spirit is lost. Each barrel spilled costs several thousand dollars and the cumulative losses can mount quickly. Researchers are working with the Kentucky spirits industry to apply modern science and engineering tools to better understand and prevent these product losses.
Each beverage alcohol production facility has its own unique community of microorganisms, known as its “microbiome”. The differences in these microbiomes lead to significant differences in the characteristic flavors produced at each facility. Researchers are currently investigating the identity of these microorganisms and assessing their diversity at different stages of the production process.
During long periods of maturation in oak barrels, a substantial volume of bourbon is lost to the Angel’s share. Interestingly, the volume of bourbon lost varies considerably across each warehouse, each distillery, and the industry at large. A team of statisticians are using the latest data analysis tools to discover new relationships between liquid recovery and maturation conditions in the Kentucky spirits industry.
Every step in the bourbon production process has a significant impact on the flavor profile of the final product. The final filtration of bourbon preserves the clarity of the product, but also drives subtle changes in the product’s sensory experience. Industry experts are working with academic researchers to establish scientifically validated links between filtration processes and the product clarity, flavor, and feel.
One of the defining characteristics of bourbon is the aging process that occurs inside a new charred barrel made from white oak. The University of Kentucky College of Agriculture, Food and Environment is partnering with Maker’s Mark Distillery Inc. in Loretto, Kentucky, and Independent Stave Company to launch a new research initiative that will decode the genetics of this magnificent tree. The results of this research will enable the industry to better protect and manage the white oak, which in turn will help preservation efforts across the entire eastern forest. The research team also includes individuals from the University of Tennessee, Pennsylvania State University and the U.S. Forest Service. Read more. You can find an update on our progress here.
Faculty Fellows
The Institute brings together a group of more than 60 researchers across campus - and across the country - who are working together to tackle issues relevant to distillation, wine and brewing studies. Areas include environmental sustainability, biotechnology, packaging, business, public health and much more.
Publications
2025
(1) Brooks, W.; Griffey, C.; Sabadin, F.; Vaughn, M.; Liu, L.; Seago, J.; Thomason, W.; Light, J.; Rucker, E.; Browning, P. Registration of ‘Avalon’winter malt barley. Journal of Plant Registrations 2025, 19 (1), e20408.
2024
(1) Wilson, S. A.; Berron, B. J.; Hauser, A. Bourbon Production Engineering: Teaching Chemical Engineering Concepts Through a Course on America’s Native Spirit. Chemical Engineering Education 2024.
(2) Tabaracci, K.; Bokros, N. T.; Oduntan, Y.; Kunduru, B.; DeKold, J.; Mengistie, E.; McDonald, A.; Stubbs, C. J.; Sekhon, R. S.; DeBolt, S. Biomechanical phenotyping pipeline for stalk lodging resistance in maize. MethodsX 2024, 12, 102562.
(3) Ramanan, M.; Bettenhausen, H.; Grigorean, G.; Diepenbrock, C.; Fox, G. P. Barley Grain Proteome Assessment Using Multi-Environment Trial Data and Machine Learning. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 2024, 72 (47), 26416-26430.
(4) Morrissy, C. P.; Fisk, S. P.; Gollihue, J. W.; Sutton, H.; Berron, B. J.; Hayes, P. M. Malting Barley for North American distillers: Novel GN0 winter barley varieties meet and exceed contemporary expectations. Journal of Distilling Science 2024, 3 (1).
(5) Morrissy, C.; Davenport, C.; Fisk, S.; Johnson, V.; Culp, D.; Sutton, H.; Bettenhausen, H.; Silberstein, R.; Hayes, P. Barley variety interacts positively with floor malting to produce different malts and beers. Journal of the Institute of Brewing 2024, 130 (1).
(6) Kim, D.; Gollihue, J.; Poovathingal, S. J.; DeBolt, S. Detailed three-dimensional analyses of tyloses in oak used for bourbon and wine barrels through X-ray computed tomography. Scientific Reports 2024, 14 (1), 17044.
(7) Hockensmith, D.; Crofcheck, C.; Barzee, T. J. Impacts of material characteristics on the anaerobic digestion kinetics and biomethane potential of American bourbon and whiskey stillage. Journal of Environmental Management 2024, 367, 121975.
(8) Clarke, S. S.; Benzecry, A.; Bokros, N.; DeBolt, S.; Robertson, D. J.; Stubbs, C. J. A custom pipeline for building computational models of plant tissue. European Journal of Agronomy 2024, 161, 127356.
(9) Berron, B. J.; Veitch, R.; Johnson, A.; Alt, M.; Williams, H. Impacts of automated single barrel bourbon processing on overall product quality and production rate. Journal of Distilling Sciences 2024, 4 (1).
(10) Berron, B. J.; DeBolt, S. The James B Beam Institute at the University of Kentucky. In Artisan Spirit, 2024.
(11) Berron, B. J.; DeBolt, S. Grain Innovation and the Distilling Industry. In Artisan Spirit, 2024.
(12) Abbott, A. G.; Staton, M. E.; Lhotka, J. M.; DeWald, L. E.; Zhebentyayeva, T.; Kapoor, B.; Thomas, A. M.; Larson, D. A.; Hadziabdic, D.; DeBolt, S. Will “Tall Oaks from Little Acorns Grow”? White Oak (Quercus alba) Biology in the Anthropocene. Forests 2024, 15 (2), 269.
2023
(1) Verges, V. L.; Gollihue, J. W.; Joyce, G. E.; DeBolt, S. Lab-Scale Methodology for New-Make Bourbon Whiskey Production. Foods 2023, 12 (3), 457.
(2) Szuleta, E.; Phillips, T.; Gollihue, J. W.; DeBolt, S.; Perry, R.; Van Sanford, D. A. Heritability of sensory attributes in a diverse group of rye accessions. Applied Food Research 2023, 3 (2), 100353.
(3) Stubbs, C. J.; Kunduru, B.; Bokros, N.; Verges, V.; Porter, J.; Cook, D. D.; DeBolt, S.; McMahan, C.; Sekhon, R. S.; Robertson, D. J. Moving toward short stature maize: the effect of plant height on maize stalk lodging resistance. Field Crops Research 2023, 300, 109008.
(4) Kunduru, B.; Kumar, R.; Brar, M. S.; Stubbs, C. J.; Tabaracci, K.; Bokros, N. T.; Bridges, W. C.; Cook, D. D.; DeBolt, S.; McMahan, C. S. Unveiling the phenotypic landscape of stalk lodging resistance in diverse maize hybrids. Field Crops Research 2023, 304, 109168.
(5) Castellari, M. P.; Simsek, S.; Ohm, J.-B.; Perry, R.; Poffenbarger, H. J.; Phillips, T. D.; Jacobsen, K. L.; Van Sanford, D. A. Genetic variation and heritability of sensory and artisan bread traits in a set of SRW wheat breeding lines. Foods 2023, 12 (13), 2617.
(6) Berron, B. J.; Brown, J.; Gambrell, J.; Cantrell, T.; Mattingly, M.; Wilson, S. A.; Gollihue, J.; Bettenhausen, H. M. Eliminating Suspected Carcinogens Using Distillation Operations. In Distiller, 2023.
2021
(1) Rosentrater, K. A.; Berron, B. J.; LeFevre, A.; Johnson, K.; Colliver, D. Challenges and Opportunities for Utilizing Spent Distillers Grains and Stillage. In Artisan Spirit, 2021.
(2) Mehanna, L. E.; Davis, K. A.; Shakar C. Miller-Murthy; Lynn, B. C.; Berron, B. J. Investigation of Appropriate Cleaning Solutions for Removal of Denatonium Benzoate from Distillery Equipment during COVID-19 Pandemic. Journal of Distilling Science 2021, 1 (1).
(3) Gollihue, J.; Pook, V. G.; DeBolt, S. Sources of variation in bourbon whiskey barrels: a review. Journal of the Institute of Brewing 2021, 127 (3), 210-223.
(4) Berron, B. J.; Colliver, D.; Johnson, K.; LeFevre, A.; Rosentrater, K.; Baker, S.; Barnes, S.; Dant, L.; Gambrell, J.; Gollihue, J.; et al. The Quiet Coproduct Re-Use Megatrend: How Kentucky’s Craft Distilleries are Dewatering and Processing Spent Grains. In Distiller, 2021.
2018
(1) Gollihue, J.; Richmond, M.; Wheatley, H.; Pook, V. G.; Nair, M.; Kagan, I. A.; DeBolt, S. Liberation of recalcitrant cell wall sugars from oak barrels into bourbon whiskey during aging. Scientific reports 2018, 8 (1), 15899.
