B.C. Researchers Explore Wild Yeast to Help Struggling Craft Breweries

Emma MacLeod

7/13/20262 min read

A new research project in British Columbia is looking to wild yeast as a possible way to help the province’s struggling craft brewing industry.

Researchers from Langara College and the University of British Columbia are exploring how yeast foraged from around B.C. and the Pacific Northwest could be used to brew beer with new flavour profiles.

The project is funded by Genome B.C. and involves researchers and students collecting wild yeast samples from across the region, including Prince George.

Project Could Reduce Reliance on Imported Hops

Project lead Dr. Stephanie Cheung, an instructor at Langara College, said commercial brewing has traditionally relied on a narrow selection of yeast strains.

She said many people think of yeast mainly as a tool for fermentation and alcohol production, but yeast can also create complex flavours through its metabolic processes.

“A lot of people thought, ‘Oh yeast, that’s just for fermenting, making the alcohol,’” Cheung said. “But they [don’t] realize that yeast is almost like a little factory.”

Cheung said the project could help breweries rely less on hops for flavour.

Hop growing is water intensive, and recent years of drought have made the crop harder to grow. Many brewers also import hops from the United States, where tariffs and other costs can add financial pressure.

Wild Yeast Can Create New Flavours

Cheung said the idea for the project began with a colleague whose students were collecting samples for a botany class, along with casual conversations about beer.

Researchers then began looking at whether classroom work could help support the brewing industry through a challenging period.

Different wild yeast strains can create different flavour profiles, which may reduce the need to add hops for certain tastes.

Cheung said researchers tested yeast with malt extract and no hops, and the results surprised some colleagues.

She said some tasters described the beer as having mango or tropical fruit flavours, even though no hops had been added.

Cheung said the long-term hope is that the research could eventually help make beer cheaper to produce and buy.

Local Breweries Supporting Research

Two Lower Mainland breweries are supporting the project: Parallel 49 in Vancouver and Barnside Brewing in Delta.

Both have written letters of support to help researchers obtain grant funding.

Barnside Brewing co-founder and general manager Ken Malenstyn said his brewery grows and uses its own hops and most of its own grain. It has also captured its own wild yeast.

Malenstyn said he would like to see more local breweries gain access to local ingredients.

“The more that we can keep stuff here at home, that's great from a business perspective … but it’s also a more unique taste journey,” he said.

Building a Wild Yeast Platform for Breweries

Malenstyn compared local ingredients in beer to terroir in wine, saying regional ingredients can create flavours that cannot be replicated elsewhere.

“Terroir in beer is no different than in wine,” he said.

Cheung and her colleagues hope to create B.C.’s first wild yeast discovery and characterization platform for breweries.

A prototype is expected this year.

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