Studies in brewing fermentation

This application describes a research program designed to further understand the phenomenon of cell flocculation. The flocculation or "clumping" properties of cells are important in beer and other fermentations.For example, the flocculation characteristics of brewing yeasts are of prime of concern when brewers select production strains. Excessively flocculent strains may prevent complete fermentations while poorly flocculent strains may also cause filtration and flavour problems. The "clumping" properties of cell are also important in various other biotechnological industries, as flocculation is a major method of cell separation.The long-term objective of this research program is to increase our comprehension of the fundamental mechanisms of (1) yeast flocculation, (2) floc structure and (3) the interactions of floc structure/yeast metabolic behaviour and fermenter suspension properties. The ultimate goal of this research is to understand and thus improve brewing and other fermentations. This research will focus on Saccharomyces cerevisiae/pastorianus strains due to their importance in the brewing and biotechnology industries.