Guinness is a whole different yeast
Stout genetically different product
SCIENTISTS have discovered the yeasts used to make Guinness are genetically distinct from those used to make other Irish beers.
Along with adding flavour, yeast is used to brew beer.
It converts the sugars from the malt into alcohol and carbon dioxide, providing its alcohol and fizz.
A team led by Diageo Group Microbiologist, Dr Daniel Kerruish, has traced the origin of the yeast used in producing Guinness back to one from 1903.
The brewery kept a record of the strains of the beer-making organism since a yeast library was established at the St James’s Gate headquarters in Dublin at the turn of the 20th century.
It was found the Guinness yeast used today is related to the first deposited Guinness yeast which is called the 1903 Watling Laboratory Guinness yeast.
Dr Kerruish said: “We found that the Guinness yeast are unique.
“Guinness established a yeast library at St James’s Gate in 1903, collected from our own breweries and beers. We also keep reference strains in our Guinness Diageo library. The Guinness yeast we use has remained unchanged since the library was first created in 1903.”
The secret behind the brewery in the capital which makes two million litres of stout every single day was featured in the series Inside the Factory on BBC Two last night.
Dr Kerruish said: “Yeast is one of four ingredients in Guinness, all of which contribute to its unique flavour. The historical and genotypic data suggests that the Guinness yeast is very old.
“We can say for definite it is the same yeast used since 1903, but we believe it is much more likely older than that.”