Non-conventional yeasts as tools for innovation and differentiation in brewing

Yeasts play a crucial role in brewing. During fermentation, besides ethanol and car-bon dioxide, yeasts produce a considerable number of organic compounds, which are essential for beer flavor. In particular, Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Saccharomyces pastorianus are tra-ditionally used in the production of ale and lager beers, respectively. Nowadays, the continuous growth of the craft beer market motivates the production of differential and innovative beers; leading specialists and brewers focus on non-conventional yeasts as tools for new product deve-lopment. In this work, we describe the potential application of non-conventional yeast species such as those of the genera Brettanomyces, Torulaspora, Lachancea, Wickerhamomyces, Pichia and Mrakia in the craft brewing industry, as well as non-traditional brewing yeasts of the Sac-charomyces genus. Furthermore, the fermentation conditions of these non-conventional yeasts are discussed, along with their abilities to assimilate and metabolize diverse wort components providing differential characteristics to the final product. In summary, we present a compre-hensive review of the state-of-the-art of non-conventional yeasts, which is highly relevant for their application in the production of novel craft beers including flavored beers, non-alcoholic beers, low-calorie beers and functional beers. (c) 2021 Asociacion Argentina de Microbiologia. Published by Elsevier Espana, S.L.U. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Automated summary

Yeasts are essential in brewing, with non-conventional yeast species offering potential for innovative craft beers. These yeasts have the ability to assimilate and metabolize diverse wort components, providing unique characteristics to the final product.