Yeast: The Brewer's Untapped Resource

Abstract

For over 200 years, brewer’s yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisisae) has been the go-to yeast for many types of fermentation, most notably beer. With the craft brewing market growing and with there only being one commonly used yeast, the fear of uniformity is encroaching on brewer’s everywhere. The hunt for uniqueness in an overwhelming market is a driving force to find new and exciting yeast that provide complexity, and a better overall experience. Brewer’s have begun implementing spontaneous fermentation, which is how alcohol was produced before the discovery of S. cerevisisae, in order to create a local flavor known as terroir. Yeast are responsible for a great majority of the flavors and aromas found in beer, wine, and cheese due to the yeasts ability of producing esters and phenols as byproducts. The possibilities are endless, and we have only tapped into one single strain, Saccharomyces cerevisisae.