Grant: Alliance Grants

While spontaneously fermented sour beer has been produced for centuries, little is known about how the complex communities of microorganisms interact in order to produce the final product. Due to the fact that spontaneously fermented beer can only be produced during certain times of the year, attempts at recreating spontaneous beer using a method of pitched culture fermentation are common. However, due to the lack of knowledge surrounding microbial succession and interactions during the fermentation, these beers are distinctly less complex. We hypothesize that by identifying the key bacteria and yeast involved in flavour development of spontaneous fermentation beer, we can develop new methods for producing both spontaneous and mixed fermentation beer leading to higher levels of both quality and consistency. Blind Enthusiasm brewing company has the only purpose built facility for manufacturing spontaneous beer in North America and has a significant amount of experience with the manufacturing of this product in both a traditional and mixed culture manner. In order to develop better methods for the production of their beer, we need to better understand how fermentation progresses in spontaneously fermented beer over the full 2 year fermentation process. Blind Enthusiasm, along with the Willing, Gaenzle, and Harynuk labs, will study how both the composition and behaviour of microbes in fermentation change over time and relate that to changes in flavour compounds in the beer in order to identify the key microbes responsible for flavour development. We will also isolate microbes from spontaneous beer and utilize the knowledge gained regarding spontaneous fermentation to design new mixtures of microbes for use in mixed fermentation beers. Finally, we will develop a method of fermentation utilizing purposeful introductions of small amounts of oxygen in to metal fermentation vessels in order to better recreate the environment present in wooden barrels; resulting in increased consistency and production volume of mixed fermentation beers for Blind Enthusiasm.