Okay, it is not a bug, it’s a fungus, but you can’t have beer without it. I am talking about yeast – the single celled miracle creature that turns boring barley juice into an elixir worthy of the Gods. My latest piece in the Beer 101 series over at the Sherbrooke Liquor website looks at the crucial role played by yeast in your beer.

I offer a bit of biology mumbo jumbo, but not too much (I stretched my biology skills to write the little I did). Instead I try to emphasize yeast’s role on the flavour and aroma of beer. The importance of yeast strain selection is one of the most under-appreciated aspects of brewing, as it will fundamentally alter the resulting profile. As evidence of the range of flavours yeast can produce I recall an experiment conducted by Mark at the Edmonton Homebrewers’ Guild a few years back. He pitched small amounts of the same beer with something like 20 different yeasts to show off the impact of yeast. The final sampling was mind boggling in its diversity and range. Even colour was affected.

I have big respect for yeast. It is simple, single-minded, well-adapted and rather indestructible.Imagine if humans could just go dormant when food ran out and slumber until more came along? Yeast and cockroaches are likely the only thing that will survive a nuclear bomb. So, what do I care that I am drinking its waste product?

Now that I have probably grossed you out, go over and read all of yeast’s story.