🌾🍺 BrewSelBar officially kicks off at UAB

BrewSelBar launches to transform brewing by-products into resilient crops and functional beverages

Barcelona, Spain – 29 January 2026

The European research project BrewSelBar officially launched today at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), bringing together universities, industry and innovation partners to develop sustainable solutions linking agriculture, brewing and nutrition.

Funded under Horizon Europe – Marie Skłodowska-Curie Staff Exchanges (Grant Agreement No. 101236623), BrewSelBar will convert brewer’s spent grain (BSG) — the most abundant by-product of the brewing industry — into a selenium-enriched, plant-based biostimulant to enhance barley resilience to environmental stress and support the development of functional barley-derived foods and beverages.

Closing the loop between brewing and agriculture

Millions of tonnes of BSG are produced annually across Europe, often underutilised despite their rich nutritional composition. At the same time, barley crops face increasing pressures from drought, soil degradation and climate change.

BrewSelBar addresses both challenges simultaneously by:

Optimising extraction of bioactive compounds from BSG
Enriching the extract with bioavailable selenium
Validating performance in laboratory and open-field conditions
Supporting the development of selenium-enriched barley-based beverages

The project contributes directly to EU priorities including the Green Deal, Farm to Fork Strategy, and Circular Bioeconomy.

REDINN’s role

REDINN SRL leads Work Package 5 – Dissemination, Communication and Exploitation, coordinating:

Communication strategy and branding
Stakeholder engagement
Training and scientific events
Science cafés and civil society outreach
Market analysis and uptake pathways

“Our goal is to ensure BrewSelBar results move beyond the lab and reach farmers, industry and society,” said the REDINN team during the kick-off session BrewSelBar_KoM_agenda.

International collaboration

The consortium includes:

Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (Coordinator, Spain)
Danmarks Tekniske Universitet (Denmark)
Technological University Dublin (Ireland)
Semillas Batlle SA (Spain)
REDINN SRL (Italy)
Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata (Argentina, Associated Partner)
Milton SA – ANTARES (Argentina, Associated Partner)

Over the next four years, BrewSelBar will demonstrate how industrial by-products can become high-value agricultural solutions, strengthening sustainability across the entire agri-food chain.

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (GA 101236623).