407: Biotransformation Myths and Realities in Hoppy and Non-Alcoholic Beers, with Dr. Peter Bircham

Two straight weeks of nothing but doctors on the Craft Beer & Brewing podcast? This week’s episode is another scientific barnburner with the head of R&D for Wellington’s Garage Project. Dr. Peter Bircham has been working in laboratory settings with yeast for many years, but for the past few he’s taken on an additional role beyond the academic, working on everything from building better Garage Project non-alcoholic beers to developing a testing regimen to evaluate new hop varietals in the Hāpi Research breeding program. In this episode, Bircham touches on:

• beer biology
• his systematic R&D process for developing novel brewing solutions
• fermenting with less traditional ingredients like rice
• testing regimens for new hop varieties with Hāpi Research
• the benefits and limitations of biotransformation
• breaking nitrogen regulation in non-GMO thiol production
• yeast inbreeding to achieve genes of interest
• cofermenting potential with unusual yeasts to unlock thiols

And more.

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