Berkeley Yeast quickly pivoted. Denby and his co-founders surveyed more than 100 brewers to ask what their dream yeast strain would do and found that there wasn’t much point in eliminating hops entirely, although some brewers wanted to reduce some use of hops for cost reasons.

This feedback has led Berkeley to focus on varieties that improve efficiency, for example by removing diacetyl, or that enhance the hops’ natural flavors by adding specific compounds or enzymes. One example is the enzyme carbon-sulfur-lyase, which takes the flavorless molecules found in malt and hops and releases flavorful compounds called thiols that, in beer, taste like tropical fruit. Berkeley created its Tropics strain by modifying a yeast commonly used for hazy IPAs to produce the enzyme.

Drinking Buddies

Since Berkeley Yeast has evolved, many hop producers have also adapted, realizing that new yeasts can make it easier for brewers to highlight nuanced hop flavors that would otherwise have been too difficult to isolate with standard yeast. “I think we could see an even bigger push toward hops that work with these new yeast strains,” says Brian Tennis, founder of Hop Alliance. “As hop growers, we need to make sure we are growing what the market demands. »

Although a staple of craft brewing, to truly achieve success, Berkeley Yeast will need to win over the biggest multinational beer companies such as Anheuser-Busch InBev and Heineken. Craft brewing represents only a quarter of the U.S. beer market.

Big brewing companies have been testing the startup’s yeasts, says co-founder Denby, although he declines to name them. Marshall, of Lagunitas – a craft beer powerhouse now owned by brewing giant Heineken – thinks it’s only a matter of time. “Someone is going to step in, and we’re kind of on the precipice,” he says. “I don’t know who it’s going to be, but once they do it, I think it’s going to become commonplace.”

Lagunitas offers beers based on Berkeley varieties at its brewery, including the Martial Martian Express which features “Uncanny Pineapple” flavors, but you won’t find those in grocery stores. Marshall says major beer distributors are still unsure whether consumers will be receptive to the concept of GMO yeast and would like to know if the GMO skepticism of the 1990s and early 2000s has dissipated.

Denby says he is convinced that the biggest beer makers will eventually, like craft brewers, be unable to resist the creative potential and efficiency offered by artificial yeast. “Scaling up will take longer, but the brewing industry as a whole will change,” he says. Despite his original vision for the company, he is also convinced that hops are here to stay, saying Berkeley’s goal is to complement tradition, not threaten it.