2023-04-28 07:16:45
Time.news – You can locate theorigin of lager beer. This is demonstrated by the work on FEMS Yeast Research, by the Weihenstephan Research Center for Brewing and Food Quality of the Technical University of Munich, published by Oxford University Press. Researchers, through historical records and contemporary phylogenomic research, have demonstrated where lagers probably originated: in the court beer hall (Hofbräuhaus) of Maximilian the Great, Elector of Bavaria, in Munich in 1602.
Beer has been brewed since ancient times. Recent archeology shows evidence of brewing in the eastern Mediterranean about 13,000 years ago. Although from the origins of brewing until the early 20th century the typical beer was ale, lager now accounts for around 90% of the beer consumed annually. The general hypothesis was that the hybrid was born from the fermentation of a traditional beer based on S. cerevisiae, contaminated by wild yeasts including S. eubayanus.
The researchers questioned this assumption and through a detailed analysis of historical records of brewing in Central Europe, found that the bottom fermentation “lager style” took place in Bavaria at least two hundred years ago. The study proposes the hypothesis that it was S. cerevisiae that contaminated a batch of beer brewed with S. eubayanus, rather than the other way around. The detective work has identified what they believe to be the source of the S. cerevisiae contaminant: a wheat brewery in the small Bavarian town of Schwarzach.
The origin of lager beer
The origin of lager beer, according to surveys, dates back to when the nephew of Hans von Degenberg he failed to produce an heir, the family died out definitively and, in 1602, the new Bavarian ruler, Maximilian the Great, appropriated the privilege of special wheat beer and took over the Schwarzach breweries of the von Degenbergs. In October of that year, wheat brewer’s yeast was brought to the Duke’s court brewery in Munich, where researchers propose that the famous hybridization occurred and S. pastorianus was born.
The results of the researchers’ survey of the historical record, together with published phylogenomic (evolution and genomic) data, suggest that yeast dominance for lager S. pastorianus developed in three phases. First, the S. cerevisiae yeast strain arrived in Munich from Bohemia, where brewers had been brewing wheat beer since at least the 14th century. Second, S. cerevisiae introduced into the Munich brewery in 1602 mated with S. eubayanus, already involved in Munich-style brewing, to give rise to S. pastorianus. Finally, the new S. pastorianus yeast was distributed first in the breweries of Munich and then throughout Europe and the world.
The researchers noted that the coexistence of S. pastorianus with Munich’s technologically advanced brewing methods and the willingness of Munich brewers to share knowledge and actual yeast may have contributed to the dominance of the strain. Mathias Hutzler, one of the lead authors of the work said: “There is a certain irony in the fact that Hans VIII von Degenberg’s inability to father a child triggered the events that led to the creation of lager yeast”,”While a lineage died out, another one began. No heir, but what a legacy he left to the world!”.
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