Finding the microbes responsible for beneficial and deleterious metabolites in malt production

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Craft brewing is one of the fastest growing industries in Canada, now accounting for about 25% of thenine-billion-dollar Canadian beer industry. Defining characteristics of the craft brewing industry are the smallbatch production of beers exclusively from natural ingredients, and highly dedicated consumers that expectboth reliable signature beers along with ongoing development of new beer flavours. Major risks for brewers aremicrobial activities that generate bad tasting flavours, and contamination with bacteria that later grow and spoilbeer after packaging. Therefore, as in all food production industries, brewers work diligently to avoid spoilagecaused by undesirable bacterial activities. For example, lactic acid bacteria are ubiquitous on raw materials(grain and hops) used in the brewing process and are known to persist in the brewing environment. Unwantedbacterial activity results in the production of malodorous off-flavours and textures (e.g. slimy orover-carbonated) which can lead to significant financial losses and strongly influence consumer experience.This NSERC Engage brings the Cameron lab's expertise in microbial genetics to: 1. Identify the bacterial andfungus that enter a brewery on the raw ingredients (grain and hops), and 2. Identify the lactic acid bacteria inthe brewery to develop better gene targets for routine quality control testing by the industrial partner. The firstgoal will allow for correlation of microbial communities with metabolites being measured by the industrialpartner. These correlations enable improved industrial processes to control microbial activity on the rawingredients to reduce the chance of unwanted metabolites (ie. bad flavours). The second goal assists in qualitycontrol in the brewing environment to reduce the risk of contamination. Altogether, the proposed Engageproject will provide the partner with knowledge of the microbial communities entering and persisting in theproduction line, as well as diagnostic markers for incorporation into their routine quality control monitoring.