Event Title
Acceleration of Fermentation in Brewer's Yeast
Faculty Mentor
Theodore Brummel
Major/Area of Research
Biology
Description
Domestication of organisms was one of the key strategies that led to
the dominance of humans on the planet. Saccharomyces
cerevisiae, Brewer’s yeast, was one of the first organisms to be deliberately
cultivated and has been used in the production of alcohol since before
written history. S. cerevisiae can undergo anaerobic fermentation and
alcohol is generated as a byproduct. Currently, various strains of this
yeast—with varying fermentation properties—are used in the production of
beer as part of a multi-billion dollar beer industry. The goal of this project is
to generate a strain of yeast that has an accelerated fermentation rate
without compromising the flavor profile of the resulting beer. Using
conventional chemical mutagenesis multiple rapid fermentation strains
have been isolated and used to brew. The results indicate that the flavor
produced by yeast is implicated by the alteration of fermentation rate. The
possible mechanism by which fermentation impacts flavor is explored.
Acceleration of Fermentation in Brewer's Yeast
Domestication of organisms was one of the key strategies that led to
the dominance of humans on the planet. Saccharomyces
cerevisiae, Brewer’s yeast, was one of the first organisms to be deliberately
cultivated and has been used in the production of alcohol since before
written history. S. cerevisiae can undergo anaerobic fermentation and
alcohol is generated as a byproduct. Currently, various strains of this
yeast—with varying fermentation properties—are used in the production of
beer as part of a multi-billion dollar beer industry. The goal of this project is
to generate a strain of yeast that has an accelerated fermentation rate
without compromising the flavor profile of the resulting beer. Using
conventional chemical mutagenesis multiple rapid fermentation strains
have been isolated and used to brew. The results indicate that the flavor
produced by yeast is implicated by the alteration of fermentation rate. The
possible mechanism by which fermentation impacts flavor is explored.