BREWING YEAST

Brewing Yeast
 Brewing Yeast

Yeast Appearance
Yeast Structure
Yeast Reproduction
Yeast Nutrition
Yeast Flavour Production
Selecting Yeast for Fermentation
Genetic Characteristics

Brewing Yeast
 Brewing Yeast

A single cell fungus

Should be the only living organism to come into contact
with beer
A biological catalyst
Converts sugar to alcohol
Found natuarally in the environment
Main brewing species are
Saccharomyces cerevisiae
Saccharomyces pastorianus

Brewing Yeast
 A Brewers Yeast CV

Name: Saccharomyces
cerevisiae
Age: circa 1000 million years
Size: circa 5 by 8m
Experience: 5000 years of
brewing (fermentation)
Marital status:single
Qualifications: good at making
ethanol

Brewing Yeast
 Yeast Appearance

Brewing Yeast
 Yeast Cytology

KEY:

BS Bud Scar
N Nucleus
ER Endoplasmic Reticulum
F Filament
G Golgi Body
I Invagination of the
plasmalemma
L Lipid Granule
M Mitochondria
Mt Thread like Mitochondrion
N Nucleus
Nc Centriolar Plaque
Nm Nuclear Membrane
Nu Nucleolus
P Plasmalemma
PG Polymetaphospahte
Granules
V Vacuole
W Cell Wall

Brewing Yeast
 Cell Functions

Cell wall:
multifunctional organelle of protection, shape, cell
interaction, reception, attachment, and specialised
enzyme activity
- 15-25% dry weight of cell, comprising 31%
phosphomannan and 29% glucan

Plasma membrane:
- Acts as a barrier to separate internal and external of cell
- Equal amounts of lipid and protein and a small amount
of carbohydrate
- Role in regulating uptake of nutrients and excretion of
metabolites
- Site of cell wall synthesis

Brewing Yeast
 Cell Functions II

Nucleus:
- Roughly spherical and 2m in diameter
- Contains 16 linear chromosomes
- Nuclear membrane is perforated at intervals with pores

Mitochondria:
- Round or elongated structures with two distinct
membranes
- Cristae within the mitochondria are formed by the
folding of the membrane
- Most enzymes for the TCA cycle are present in the
matrix
- Enzymes involved in electron transport and oxidative
phosphorylation are associated with the inner membrane
Brewing Yeast
 Cell Functions III

Vacuole:
- Part of the intramembranous structure
- Mature cells contain large vacuoles which fragment into
small vesicles when bud formation is initiated
- Contain proteases and hydrolases an are a store of
amino acids

Endoplasmic Reticulum:
- Sometimes covered with Ribosomes
- Rough ER produces and stores proteins
- Main functions are to partition the cytoplasm, provide a
relatively large surface area for metabolic reactions, and
to act as an active transport system for conveying
materials in and out the cell

Brewing Yeast
 Cell Functions IV

Golgi Body:
- Appears as a set of closely-packed, parallel curved pockets
- Forms glycoproteins

Lysosomes:
- Digest materials made in the cell or brought into the cell
- In old cells enzymes released by lysosomes cause autolysis

Ribosomes:
- Small dense, spherical bodies containing protein and RNA
- Synthesise proteins

Brewing Yeast
 Yeast Structure

Bud scars indicate age.

Shape & density of vacuole - development stage.
Size 5 by 8 micron - strain dependent.
Some form chains - linked together.
Yeast can be classified according to its fermentation
performance -
flocculent (settles out) or
non-flocculent (does not settle out so readily).
Now usually identified by genetic finger print.

Brewing Yeast
 Budding Yeast Reproduction

Yeast cells multiply by budding,

producing daughter cells.
In a normal fermentation yeast
will reproduce itself between
2.5 and 6 times.
If oxygen is limited it cannot
produce sufficient cell wall
material for effective budding.
Insufficient yeast growth will
produce a defective
fermentation

Brewing Yeast
 Stages of Yeast Growth and Budding
Yeast growth - cell numbers

Lag Growth Stationary Death or Sedimentary

Phase Phase Phase Phase

The growth of yeast cells during the course of a brewery fermentation

Brewing Yeast
 Yeast - nutritional requirements

Yeast requires more than just sugars to grow:

Simple sugars - maltose, glucose & dextrose - difficulty with
maltotriose & cannot ferment dextrins or starch.
Protein - amino acids - from malting & mashing
Lipids & fatty material - cell wall.
Vitamins from malt
Trace metals particularly zinc & copper.
Oxygen for cell wall synthesis.

Brewing Yeast
 Yeast Nutrition

WORT YEAST BEER

Sugars Heat
(Melibiose)
Energy Waste products
Nitrogen (Alcohol & Carbon dioxide)
(amino acids)

Flavour compounds
Initial Oxygen

Vitamins and
Mineral ions

New More Yeast

Yeast Growth and
multiplication

Summary of the main metabolic biochemical changes

which occur during fermentation
Brewing Yeast
 Glucose
Sulphate
Pyruvate H2S & SO2

Organic acetaldehyde Amino Acids

Acids Acetyl CoA

ethanol Keto Acids

Fatty Acetyl
CoA Fusel
Alcohols
Diacetyl
Lipids VDK
Fatty
Acids Esters

YEAST METABOLISM - Flavour production

Brewing Yeast
 Selecting Yeast for Fermentation

To produce alcohol & desirable flavours

To complete the fermentation
To produce a consistent product
To perform process within a set time
To retain viability & genetic stability
To be convenient to harvest - flocculation
To retain viability & vitality during storage
To reproduce adequately
To be able to utilise raw materials used
To withstand acid washing (if required)

Brewing Yeast
 Genetic Tests for Typing Yeast
Strains

It is important for brewers to have pure brewing yeast strains.

Traditional tests to ensure this were relatively simple and
biochemically or microbiologically based, such as:
Colony morphology on differential media
Flocculence characteristics
Sensitivity to antibodies or other chemicals

These have largely been removed as valid tests due to various

problems, including:
Lack of objectivity as the results were open to
misinterpretation
Poor sensitivity
Lengthy response time up to a week
Poor reproducibility and robustness
Brewing Yeast
 Modern Tests

DNA Fingerprinting
This method uses hybridization with a DNA probe which
allows identification of specific DNA fragments. The result is
a pattern or profile, resembling a bar code, which is
characteristic for each yeast strain.
Karyotyping
This is an electrophoretic technique that separates whole
chromosomes based on their different sizes.
Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)
This is an in vitro method for amplifying very small
amounts of selected nucleic acids by several orders of
magnitude over a very short period of time. This technique
permits the detection of specified DNA fragments by
making multiple copies.
Brewing Yeast