The British Beer and Pub Association's (BBPA) Beautiful Beer campaign has teamed up with the Institute for Brewing & Distilling to offer funding and support for the Beer Academy.
The new funding, totalling £50,000, will be used to enable more people to attend the Beer Academy's Foundation Course, which is designed for those involved in the brewing and licensed trade.
The course teaches attendees about the taste, style and flavour of certain beers and will help those licensees wishing to achieve a Beautiful Beer Platinum award.
The increased funding comes as the Beer Academy launches its new website www.beeracademy.co.uk, which was also partly funded by a £10,000 grant from the BBPA.
"In these difficult times quality and passion count," said BBPA director of communications Mark Hastings.
"It is vital to ensure our customers enjoy the best possible beer and pub experience. These courses will help provide that added value."
Simon Jackson of the Beer Academy added: "The Beer Academy has trained over 2,500 people in the last four years and has received great feedback from delegates and employers.
"In the current economic climate that the beer and pub sectors are experiencing, now is a vital time to focus on training that will give people a real competitive edge and build staff commitment and selling effectiveness.
"We are delighted that the BBPA support allows us to take the Beer Academy to the next stage in its growth, and our ambition is to encourage all those in the beer and pub industries to gain a Beer Academy qualification in just the same way as all those involved in the wine and spirits sectors aspire to a qualification from the Wine & Spirit Education Trust.''