Many people enjoy spending time with friends after work, especially during the summer. One popular choice for a drink is a cold beer, and for most, lager is the go-to option. Researchers are trying to make new exotic beer flavors using genetic methods.
Lager makes up more than 90 percent of the beer sold worldwide. It’s loved for its refreshing taste. But there’s a downside. Most lager beers taste very similar, and there aren’t many different flavors to choose from. This is because only a few types of yeast are used to make them. Imagine, though, if it were possible to introduce new, exciting flavors. That could change the way we think about lager entirely.
A recent study, featured in PLOS Genetics, explores a new method to bring more variety to lager beer. Researchers used wild yeast from Patagonia to develop a new type of lager yeast, potentially leading to fresh and unique flavors in the future.
Traditionally humans have used yeast for beer
Yeast are tiny, single-celled fungi that convert sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide. For centuries, people have relied on yeast, either knowingly or not, to make products like wine, beer, and bread through fermentation.
The yeast traditionally used in lager beer, called Saccharomyces pastorianus, is a mix of two yeast species: S. cerevisiae, used in making wine and ale, and S. eubayanus, a wild species found on trees, wrote Jennifer Molinet, lead author of the study.
This hybrid yeast has been used for hundreds of years and was developed to work well in the cold brewing process typical of lager production.
Over time, much like the selective breeding of livestock, crops, and pets, the genetic variety of lager yeast has been reduced. This process has limited the range of flavors and aromas that lager yeast can produce, leaving little opportunity for creating new and exciting tastes.
New yeast discovery could change lager brewing
Molinet reveals that a key breakthrough in 2011 changed the brewing landscape. The discovery of S. eubayanus, the yeast responsible for lager production, in Patagonia allowed researchers to explore its genetic diversity.
Since then, Molinet and her team have focused on three S. eubayanus strains from Chile, known for their ability to ferment at cold temperatures and produce unique flavors. These strains were hybridized with ale yeast, S. cerevisiae, creating a new lager yeast with never-before-seen flavor profiles.
Molinet notes that the first hybrids didn’t meet the brewing standards. However, using a method called experimental evolution, the team improved the yeast’s performance over six months.
New strains emerged with stronger fermentation abilities, higher alcohol production, and distinct aromas like spices and herbs. Molinet believes this opens new doors for brewers to experiment with unique lagers.
