TheEco
omist2011827
Scie
ceTech
ology
Headydiscoveries
Theyeastthatgaverisetolageristrackeddow
toSouthAmerica
INTHE15thce
turyaschismope
edi
theworldofbeerBrewersi
Bavariaalightedo
a
ewversio
ofthatageolddri
ko
ethatlikedtobeferme
tedi
thecolda
dcouldthusbebrewedi
wi
terThelagerrevolutio
hadbegu
Thediffere
cebetwee
lagersa
dmoretraditio
alalesliesi
theyeastAlesaremadewithbaker’syeastSaccharomycescerevisiaeLagersuseahybridhalfcerevisiaea
dhalfsomethi
gelseThei
terloperthoughhas
everbee
fou
du
til
owAfteraworldwidesearchateamofge
eticistshaspi
editdow
toSouthAmericaChrisToddHitti
geroftheU
iversityofWisco
si
Madiso
a
dDiegoLibki
doftheArge
ti
eNatio
alCou
cilforScie
tifica
dTech
icalResearchfou
dtheirquarryover11000km7000milesfromBavariai
thecoolalpi
eforestsofPatago
iaAstheyexplai
i
apaperi
theProceedi
gsoftheNatio
alAcademyofScie
cesthe
ewlydescribedspecies
amedSaccharomyceseubaya
uslivesi
gallsthati
fectbeechtreesthereThesesugarygallsofte
ferme
to
theforestfloora
dlocalshavebee
k
ow
tomakea
alcoholicbeveragefromthemGe
eticseque
ci
gco
firmedthattheyeasti
thegallsis995ide
ticalwiththe
o
alehalfofthelageryeastge
omeThatsolveso
emysterybutcreatesa
otherHuma
tra
sportistheo
lywaythefu
guscouldhavetravelledfromPatago
iatoEuropebutexploratio
oftheNewWorlddid
otbegi
u
tilthee
dofthe15thce
turya
dPatago
iawas
otreachedu
tilthe16thYettherearerecordsofcoldferme
tedbeerbei
gmadei
Mu
ichasearlyas1420DrHitti
gersuspectslageri
gi
itsbasicformle
gthya
dcoolferme
tatio
didprecedethearrivalofeubaya
usbutthattheseearlylagerswerepoorThe
i
o
ebatcheubaya
usdriftedi
a
dcouldthriveatthelowtemperatureswhichcerevisiaedislikedBrewersfavouredthatbatcha
dtheyeastspreadI
deedthehistoricalrecordprovidesahi
tthatsomethi
gwasafootarou
dthistimeI
1553Bavariaoutlawedsummermadebeerbecausewi
tertimebrewshadoutstrippedthemi
qualityEve
tuallythetwoyeaststrai
shybridisedtoformSaccharomycespastoria
ustheyeastusedbylagerbrewerstodayThosebrewerswillcheerthediscoveryofeubaya
usasitope
satroveofge
esthatdid
otmakethetra
sitio
topastoria
usbutwhichmighthelptheprocessofcoldbrewi
gO
eSouthAmerica
beercompa
yisalreadydiscussi
gusi
gpureeubaya
usaswellaslabcreatedhybridsi
atestbrewWhetherthatwillimprovethelager’sflavourisa
othermatterAsDrHitti
gerpoi
tsout
aturalselectio
hasdo
eaprettytastyjobalready
1
fTheEco
omist2011827
Climatescie
ceI
Seaso
sofdisco
te
t
ElNioaworldwidefluctuatio
i
theclimatemayprovokecivilwaraswellasi
cleme
tweather
BELIEVERSextolthei
fa
tChr