Back in 2019, archeologists managed to revive a colony of yeasts that had lain dormant in the pores of a clay pot for nearly 5000 years. After painstakingly coaxing the tiny microorganisms back to a healthy state, they did what anyone would do — they brewed a beer with it.
And while the tanks are now made of stainless steel and the temperature controls are all electric, the actual yeast is the same stuff that breweries like Seattle's Bizarre use today. It does what it’s always done — eat sugar, and make booze. Depending on the beer, the temp, and specific yeast strain, that process can take a while.
“This particular beer will take about a week to ferment,” explains head brewer Derek Brown of his upcoming Black Nettle Stout. But that’s fairly quick by Bizarre’s standards. “Many of our beers take three to four weeks,” he explains. “And then we have beers that age in barrels for more than two years.”
The different times depend a lot on the type of yeast used — different strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Saccharomyces pastorianus are most commonly seen in breweries. For Black Nettle, Derek will be pitching a single strain of cerevisiae, but a wide variety of yeasts can be used, particularly for Wild Ales. An open fermentation might involve Brettanomyces, Pichia, and Kloeckera, and with other microorganisms like Lactobacillus and Pediococcus.
“A beer's style and our desired flavor profile for a beer dictates which yeast strain I'll use.” Explains Derek. “Yeast choice has a huge impact on how a beer comes out!”
When that fermentation is finished, he checks the beer’s sugar content and, most importantly, how the beer tastes. Then it’s time for perhaps the LEAST glamorous part of the whole process — canning. How does the beer actually get into a bottle or can? We’ll talk about that next week!
