Applying Bioinformatics and Biochemistry Tools to support the Craft Brewing Industry in BC

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proposal aims to found a centre for molecular biology, biochemistry, and bioinformatics research that wouldsupport the craft brewing industry in BC. It will initially do so by pursuing three specific projects: 1) Developtools for early detection of beer spoilage. This research is in partnership with Parallel 49 brewing and aims tocharacterize the mechanism of "spoiled" beer by extracting DNA and sequencing known marker genes toidentify species/strains associated with spoilage. It aims to deliver a simple diagnostic tool to identify commonspoilage microbes; 2) Develop a tool to assess yeast degradation. Also in partnership with Parallel 49 brewing,this project will characterize the mechanisms of yeast degradation. Its deliverable will be an on-site bindingassay to assess the state of degradation for yeast prior to pitching them in beer; 3) Lineage analyses of wild BChops to support novel product development. This project is in partnership with HOOH Organic Hop Company,and will involve developing and using genetic markers to identify the varietal types of wild BC hops. Theseheirloom hops represent an opportunity to develop unique and marketable hops varietal. 4) Chemical andmicrobial analyses of barrel-aged "premium" beer. Also in partnership with Parallel 49 brewing, this projectaims to understand how unique flavour profiles are created during barrel-aging, a process that introduces anunknown set of microbial species into mature beer, allowing secondary anaerobic metabolism to occur, whichproduces complex and unique flavours that command a premium value in the beer market. We seek to culturethe microbial strains responsible for specific flavour elements, which would allow their optimal inoculation inbeer in order to improve the product of the barrel-aging process.