On this week’s almighty yeast of a show we are talking all things fermentation and dried yeast with Lallemand Brewing’s Technical Sales Manager for the UK and Scandinavia, Andrew Paterson.
I doubt there is a topic that genuinely gets brewers out of bed more than yeast.
Just ask them a question like, ‘How does chronically depleted oxygen resources affect fermentation across yeast generations?’, or better still, get them to recall anecdotally a particular problem they had with their yeast that they finally resolved after sleepless nights churning it over in their mind or pouring through text books troubleshooting... and watch their eyes light up in wild excitement.
Many brewers, even some large ones, rely on the variety of dried yeast available for both consistency and to add to their palet and repertoire.
And what a day and age to live in as a brewer where we have access to dried yeast varieties that are able to produce moderate amounts of lactic acid in addition to ethanol in one simple fermentation step, or provide prominent notes of apricot and undertones of tropical fruit and citrus that merge seamlessly with hop aromas perfect for big, juicy IPAs.
Brewing better beer ultimately comes down to how well you’re able to control your fermentation profile.
A beer may have IBUs might be in endless harmony with a perfectly malty backbone like a classic Beach Boys, but underpitch, overpitch, don’t oxygenate enough at the start, introduce oxygenate later on, crash too early, raise the temperature too late; cap the beer with CO2 too early towards the end of fermentation, and just about anything else yeast cells don’t like and a whole myriad of problems is enough to keep any brewer awake at night.
We hope you get a lot out of this week’s episode with Andrew; we certainly did... and with good reason. Having cut his teeth at BrewDog he went on to become the Head Brewer for West Sussex’s Dark Star for 6 years before moving into technical sales with Lallemand.
’s presence in the brewing industry dates from the early 1970s when the company started producing dried pure culture brewing yeasts for beer kit manufacturers in Canada. In subsequent years, this activity was expanded to the production of other specific ale and lager beer yeast strains for different clients in the United States, Europe and Australia and Asia.
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