March 5, 2018 · Team HG
It is remarkable how history is sometimes circular. Mark Twain once said of this: ‘History not only repeats itself, it even rhymes.’ In the beer world, too, a remarkable return of craft beers with wild yeast strains is taking place today. In Amsterdam last June, the Carnival Brettanomyces place, where all beer that was Brett, sour, and funky was celebrated and discussed. Various breweries busy experimenting with wild yeasts and new combinations.
What makes this beer special is that this trend is a reversal of what the brewing world has been doing since the mid-19th century. Louis Pasteur in 1857 was the first to demonstrate that yeast cells were responsible for producing the alcohol in beers and wines. This led to a search by brewers for yeast strains. In 1883, the published Emil Christian Hansen, laboratory technician at Carlsberg, about a bottom-fermenting strain of yeast that he had been sent from Spatenbrau in Munich. He named this yeast strain Saccharomyces Pastorianus (in honor of Pasteur) and this yeast was produced a year later by Carlsberg under the name Carlsberg No. 1. In the literature, this yeast is therefore often also referred to as S. Carlsbergensis.
This isolated yeast made it possible to brew an extremely pure beer, free from all the funkiness and acidity that had previously been present in practically all beers. And thanks to new closed production lines and modern filtration equipment, a clear beer could be produced that always tasted the same. To the beer drinker of the early 21st century, this drink was just like champagne. Lager conquered the world at breakneck speed. Literally. Thanks to new transport options—such as the high-speed train—and new cooling techniques, beer could be transported over increasingly greater distances. Local beers disappeared and made way for national beers.
A hundred years later, however, the beer lover grew wary of the ubiquitous lager. Small local breweries set to work with older beer styles, and thus also with the wild yeast strains that Hansen was so eager to banish from the brewing process. As a result, funk returned to the beer, and beer became a local product once again. Fortunately, we still have access to modern cooling and transport methods, allowing this local product to be distributed worldwide.
[bs-quote quote=”Ivo is internationaal biersommelier, entertainer en horeca-expert. Heeft een onmetelijke passie voor bier, horeca en gastvrijheid. Ivo zal maandelijks een column schrijven voor Horeca Groningen.” style=”style-5″ align=”center” author_name=”Ivo Thijssen” author_job=”Biersommelier” author_avatar=”https://staging.horecagroningen.nl/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Ivo-Thijssen-profiel.jpg” author_link=”https://bierproeven.nu/”][/bs-quote]
