Genetically Modified Wine Yeast

January 13, 2007

red wineThe first wines made using genetically engineered (GE) yeast are believed to now be on the market. Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain ML01 is being marketed by Springer Oenologie, a division of Lesaffre Yeast Corporation. The yeast can apparently only be used in the U.S. where GE foods are not banned, as they are in many other countries.

Company literature describes the yeast as: “The world’s first, commercially available, genetically enhanced wine yeast, which reliably performs both the alcoholic fermentation and the malolactic fermentation without the need for bacteria.”

Els Cooperider, co-founder of Ukiah Brewing Company, America’s first certified organic brewpub, doesn’t like GE yeast. She writes in Terrain Magazine that GE yeasts for brewing “lite” beers have been available for a while now but no brewers are currently believed to be using them. The problem is that in the U.S. companies are not required to label GE products as such, so there is no way to know for sure.

Genetics Professor Emeritus Joe Cummings, from the University of Western Ontario, doesn’t like GE yeast either. He write in Sustainable Agriculture magazine:

“The GM wine yeast did not appear to have been tested for toxicity in animal feeding experiments nor was the must [the grape residue] and finished wine. The FDA review seemed to be based on faith rather than on science.”

Cooperider also says that:

” . . . the British medical journal, The Lancet, points out that international faith in the FDA is fast eroding because [GMO] approvals are frequently influenced by political pressure. Certainly the approval of GE wine yeast leaves fundamental—and extremely unsettling—questions to be answered.

“Because the US has no labeling requirements for GE products, we don’t know which companies are using GE yeast. I’ve spoken to winemakers in Mendocino County who were outraged to learn that GE wine yeast had been approved and is now out in the world. We learned during the Measure H campaign that at least 30 field trials with GE wine grapes had been conducted in California, according to officials at UC Davis. We know that trials are being conducted with GE yeast. It would behoove the wine industry to find out where these trials are being conducted. In the meantime, the best way to stop this nonsense is to boycott wines and all other products whose producers cannot prove they don’t use GMOs.”

But how does one boycott companies using GE yeast when there is no requirement to label GE products?

1 Comment | Organic, GMO | Permalink
Posted by beeractivist

SourPuss Success at Shirlington

January 12, 2007

Try saying that three times fast.

After my radio interview at WETA this morning, I walked about 20 steps directly across the street to Capitol City Brewing in Shirlington for lunch. As luck would have it, all three of the brewers were standing next to the bar where I sat down. This is the kind of serendipitous encounter that happens in brewpubs. An occurence almost unique in the age of foreign factory-produced goods – meeting the person who makes what you consume.

So Ryan Curley, Mike McCarthy, and Mike Morris (left to right in photo) treated me to a tasting of their newest offerings.

CapCity

SourPuss, which just came out yeterday, is a sour red Flemish-style Belgian ale, making it the first “wild fermented” beer produced at Capitol City Brewing. It wasn’t really “wild” fermented, but they did use the hallmark lambic yeasts: Brettanomyces, Lactobacillus, and Pediococcus. With 380 lbs. of tart cherries, this clear red ale was astonishingly clean, light, dry and refreshing. I hope this beer will be making regular appearances at Cap City.

Their new IPA is notable both because they don’t normally make an IPA and because this one includes an addition of Cascade hop oil (another first for them) during the whirlpool at the end of the brew. At approximately 40-50 IBUs, this isn’t one of those mouth-numbing Double IPAs everyone is making these days. Mike Morris says they wanted to emphasize a floral hop bouquet rather than hop bitterness.

But rest assured, there is no shortage of big beers at Cap City. Fuel is a Russian Imperial Stout with 10 lbs. of ground coffee brewed in the serving vessel a day before the beer is pumped in. Wow, one whiff had me running for the bathroom. Don’t worry, it’s not a reflection on the beer, which was yummy, that always happens when I smell coffee. A Pavlovian response I guess.

Head over to Shirlington before the SourPuss is gone. It’s a real treat.

Oh yeah, and check out the radio show I appeared on today to talk about why it’s important to support locally-owned breweries.

2 Comments | Brewpubs | Permalink
Posted by beeractivist

Why are locally-owned breweries important?

January 11, 2007

Microphone

Turn on your radio tomorrow to hear me discuss the answer to this question with Rebecca Roberts on The Intersection. Greg Kitsock, editor of Mid-Atlantic Brewing News, will also join the discussion.

The deets:
Friday, January 12, 2007
11am-Noon
WETA, 89.1 and 90.9 FM
Or tune in to the Podcast.

2 Comments | beer ownership, media coverage | Permalink
Posted by beeractivist

“There is absolutely no marijuana in this beer.”

January 10, 2007

Thus spake Ron Lindenbush, head “beer weasel” at Lagunitas Brewing, last night at the Brickskeller in Washington D.C.

Over the course of the night Ron would regale us with so many dope-smoking stories that my confidence in the above statement crumbled.

First, there is their Censored Ale, which was originally called Kronik but the feds rejected their label application due to the drug reference. So they renamed it Censored Ale as a joke, but the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau apparently forgot to laugh and approved the new name. Here’s the text that actually appears on the approved label:

“Anyway, we were going out to, uh, the, uh, you know, thing, and all, and when we got there, well, uh, the dude was, like- “whoa man!” I mean, and we were all, uh, you know – “whoa!” and stuff, and when I said to him, like, you know, “hey man”, and all they, I mean he, was all “what?” and stuff – and I just told him what you said and all and they were all man – “not cool dude”, but whatever – so, uh, we split and went back to my lair and just hung out and whatever, but the whole thing was, like, just SUCH a bummer and all but, you know, it was cool and stuff, but you just gotta, you know, about the dude and all, like, it’s cool and all you know, but what’s up with that “blah blah blah”? Whatzit got to do with beer and all? I mean, really, dude, whatever…but, it’s cool and all…”

Ron Lindenbush, Lagunitas

The fact that their infamous brewery-parties start at 4:20pm is perhaps another indication of their herbal interests. So given the, well, illegality of marijuana, you might wonder what Lagunitas’ attitude is toward the law. Ron says, “We don’t spend a lot on lawyers unless someone’s in handcuffs.”

And apparently that’s exactly what happened the night of their St. Patrick’s Day party when two undercover agents shackled Ron after having accepted free weed offered by some brewery staff and witnessing Ron light up a joint “the size of a cannon.” The fact that the staff members didn’t charge anything for the pot saved the brewery from being shuddered permanently. Instead they were merely prohibited from having parties at the brewery for a while.

You can read some more stories about Lagunitas on their website, but hearing Ron tell them in person was unforgettable. Actually, I almost forgot – I had heard these stories once before when I visited the brewery on a slow Sunday afternoon, unannounced, and Ron greeted me with a bag of, um, “hops,” and then proceeded to feed me free samples all afternoon.

(Thanks to Seung for taking the picture – that’s Ron on the right).

1 Comment | beer tasting, Drugs, Politics | Permalink
Posted by beeractivist

Will a Corporate Buy-out Brew a Paler Shade of Craft Ale at Old Dominion?

January 8, 2007

Rumors have been swirling for months that Old Dominion Brewing Co. could be bought by Anheuser-Busch (A-B). The front of today’s Business section in the Washington Post all but confirmed the gossip.

The deal is also purported to involve Rams Head Tavern, the Baltimore-based regional brewpub chain affiliated with Fordham Brewing Co. Perhaps Rams Head will operate the pub restaurant at Old Dominion while A-B does the brewing? Or maybe Rams Head/Fordham will operate both the pub as well as the brewing and A-B will manage marketing? It’s impossible to know for sure until the deal is made public, but one thing I do know is that an A-B takeover is bad news for democracy.

Support Your Local Brewery

What will happen if America’s largest beer company takes over a thriving regional craft brewer like Old Dominion? One result, and perhaps the only good thing about the deal, may be that Old Dominion products will be better distributed. This is due to the arcane three-tier beer distribution system, which was mandated at the national level by the 21st Amendment that repealed Prohibition in 1933. The system was intended to prevent vertical monoplies by legally seperating brewing, distribution and retailing.

But today distributors are virtual extensions of the companies that grant them exclusive contracts, namely A-B, Molson-Coors, and SABMiller. In a bitter twist of irony, today this system hampers small brewers from reaching customers because distributors are reluctant to promote small-time beers when one big company’s products account for nearly all of their sales. Yet the system prohibits small brewers from fending for themselves and marketing to retailers directly, though this is slowly changing state-by-state. Thus, if A-B buys Old Dominion, distributors who hold exclusive rights with A-B will have new cause to expand sales of Old Dominion products.

So what’s the potential downside? The first and most obvious is the growth of the A-B monopoly itself. Moreover, studies show that global corporations spend less on staff than locally-owned businesses and they pump profits out of the community by spending less on local procurement. Plus, Old Dominion customers are already concerned that there will be a reduction in the number of beer styles on offer. All of this is bad for democracy because it consolidates power in the hands of one giant corporate beerhemoth that is legally required to act in the interests of profits above all else. This legal prioritizing of money over everything else is what makes life commercial and cheap, the very things the craft beer movement was created to fight against.

In my view, the day Old Dominion is sold to A-B will be a sad day for beer drinkers.

1 Comment | beer ownership | Permalink
Posted by beeractivist

« Previous Entries
Next Entries »
Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.