The Biotechnology in Beer Making

At first glance, beercraft seems simple; after all, a beer maker's ingredient list is incredibly brief: malted barley, water and hops. Historically, naturally occurring yeasts converted the mix's sugar content into alcohol; one of the first biotechnological developments in beercraft was the introduction of customized yeast cultures to refine the process. Biotech in beer making is now almost entirely in the GMO field. Beer biotechnologists are using GMO to improve the barley stock and streamline the malting process.

Definition

According to "Merriam-Webster OnLine," the exact definition of biotechnology is "the manipulation (as through genetic engineering) of living organisms or their components to produce useful usually commercial products (as pest resistant crops, new bacterial strains, or novel pharmaceuticals)."

Applications

Biotechnology is currently being used to solve two major problems in beer making: prevention of fungal root rot through the insertion of a fungicidal gene into the barley stock and bumping the enzyme quotient of barley to make it more smoothly, uniformly maltable.

Considerations

Beer, as it uses yeast to manipulate the development of sugar into alcohol, has always been a biotechnological product; genetic modification is an extrapolation of these low-tech methods into the context of modern science.

Theories/Speculation

Issues specific to barley GMO haven't yet been documented. However, a growing list of health and environmental issues with the genetic modification of food has been developing over recent years.

Fun Fact

In 1516, Bavaria passed a "beer purity act," which German brewers still observe.

Resources

• "Merriam-Webster OnLine" definition of "biotechnology"