I like the look of your metabolic pathway, baby. You appear to have some bound up thiols that need releasing. Today is your lucky day: I’m a strapping young yeast, I have the key to those locks, and I’m gonna make you fruit like crazy.

That’s right, you heard right. The secret word for today is “Thiolized.” That’s THIGH-all-ized. New fancy brewer words come along every once in a while; a few years ago it was “biotransformation,” and this is an extension of that. Thiols are stanky compounds that occur naturally in both malt and hops, and can also be manifested by the “skunking” action of UV light on hop compounds in beer. That’s thiols at their stankiest (in beer, at least).

New yeast strains, (please don’t say the GMO word!) genetically modified (dammit!) by benevolent scientists at yeast labs, now have the magical ability to milk fruity thiol aromas from malt. Rather than skunk ass, these thiols present as highly tropical – hence the guava and papaya in the title here. They’re new kids on the block, and aren’t in everything yet. There’s a lot of potential, and a bit of experimentation going on locally.

Never content to stand still, Toby Schock at The Wheel has been playing with thiolized yeast since summer. The first experiment was a virtually hopless batch of blonde ale. The intensity of guava/passionfruit from the yeast was alarming for a tame beer style, but a good example of what’s possible and how to proceed. Most recently, he collaborated with my co-brewer Bre Goulette at Plank Town, providing a different thiolized yeast to ferment her Pink Boots brew (pending title: 80085). You can smell the result in a few weeks when it’s on tap at the pub (shameless plug!).

These yeasts aren’t going to replace hops; the fruit aromas are not nearly complex enough because they aren’t also laced with a symphony of other aromatic compounds. They can, however, be used cleverly to, perhaps, reduce a brewer’s reliance on hops for those buzz-word aromas we love in IPA. And, according to some friends, thiolized yeasts aren’t limited to hop-forward beers. Apparently, chocolate and passionfruit are good bedfellows, gustatorially speaking, and an imperial brown ale that made the rounds at a brewer’s meeting caused quite a stir with its surprising harmony.

In my perfect world, yeast-forward beers would carry just as much weight as hop- and malt- forward beers do; we are severely lacking in Belgian-style beers brewed locally (yep, those are different fruity aromas, but still). Maybe thiolized yeasts are a portal to that perfect world.

Now I’ll show you what you’re working with:

Feb 10-11 – KLCC Brewfest

When: Friday, February 10th & Saturday, February 11th, 2023
Where: Lane Events Center in Eugene | 796 W. 13th St.
Why: To raise our glasses and funds for KLCC. Brewfest is our largest fundraising event!

TICKETS
Click here to purchase tickets to KLCC Brewfest.
Advance Ticket Prices (Admission includes souvenir glass and two beer tickets)
Single day – $20
Two day – $30
Designated Driver – $10

At the Door Ticket Prices (Admission includes souvenir glass and two beer tickets)
Single day – $25
Two day – $35
Designated Driver – $10

February 15

Oakshire – Oakshire Inspires: Friends of Family Farmers

Join us on Wednesdays as we donate $1/pint to a local nonprofit! Friends of Family Farmers advances policies and programs that protect, promote and sustain resilient and economically viable community agricultural systems in Oregon.

February 16

The Bier Stein – Thursday Tasting Series featuring Pelican Brewing, 5-7pm

February 17

WildCraft Ciderworks, 5:30-11pm: Quench Your Desires, An Immersive Experience
5:30pm – Pair of Hearts – Four course pairing dinner with Chef Isaiah Martinez and specialty WildCraft ciders and cocktails. Full Details Here

February 18

Drop Bear Brewery, noon-6pm – For the Luv of Dogs Benefit
Don’t buy, adopt! Drop Bear Brewery is hosting a fundraiser for the love of dogs, come and meet your new love, cuddle them, pat them, and take them home.

WildCraft Ciderworks, 5:30-11pm: Quench Your Desires, An Immersive Experience
5:30pm – Pair of Hearts – Four course pairing dinner with Chef Isaiah Martinez and specialty WildCraft ciders and cocktails. Full Details Here