Canada-based developer of beer yeast strains Bright Brewer’s Yeast has introduced a new range of beer yeast strains, which have been developed using selective breeding to deliver distinct styled beer.
The company, which is a subsidiary of life sciences company Renaissance, also plans to discuss collaborations with brewers at the BrauBeviale trade fair in Nuremberg in Germany starting 10 November to 12 November. The company will exhibit the beer yeast strains at the fair.
Presently, most of the beer yeast strains are derived from the wild and hence the scope of its use has been limited. Bright used the feedback from brewers to develop the yeast strains which help get distinctive characteristics for unique style of beer, without losing any essence.
Bright CEO Dr John Husnik said: "Our team has the expertise to improve a strain's technical performance, such as ensuring the right flocculation for the beer style or improving fermentation kinetics. We can also improve a strain's sensory characteristic, which lets us accentuate desirable flavor compounds, such as banana and cloves in our Bavarian Hefeweizen. This is just the tip of the iceberg of what we believe is possible with our yeast."
All of the Bright's yeast strains are bred selectively so as to avoid the formation of hydrogen sulfide, which is a natural contaminant that generates during fermentation and gives a rotten-egg smell to the beer. Bright Yeast stops this occurring without using large amounts of copper or lagering so that the taste of the beer remains uncompromised, the company claims.
Selective breeding has been in use for centuries now to provide natural variation in hops and barley to produce different varieties of beer. Selective breeding can help control different beer yeast characteristics such as fermentation kinetics, flocculation, and production of different flavor compounds, the company found.
Image: Bright develops new beer yeast strains. Photo: Courtesy of tiverylucky/FreeDigitalPhotos.net.
