Using Wine to Build a Better Beer
Bioengineering students at Rice University are experimenting in making beer more like wine -- or, at least, channeling red wine's healthful properties into something sudsier.
The objective is to take the yeast used to ferment beer and genetically engineer it to produce resveratrol, the compound in red wine that is believed to be beneficial for cardiac health and fighting cancer. Why beer? As reported on NPR, the students' ultimate goal is to bring the health benefits of wine to a much larger audience (beer consumption greatly outstrips consumption of wine).
In order to brew their "Biobeer," the students are introducing two genes found in grapes into a yeast strain provided by the Saint Arnold Brewery in Houston, Texas. According to the research project's web site, fermentation experiments are still ongoing. And, if you're not interested in drinking beer or wine to improve your health, future work will explore genetic engineering of yeasts to make other resveratrol-infused liquors like cider, whiskey, bourbon, and vodka. Hic.
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Nov 12, 2008 2:57:04 AM
Posted By: Cooking Schools
Its great to hear that research going on making beer more like wine and bringing health benefits of wine to beer. Once it is done, I think this will drasticaly increase the consumption of beer.
Thanks for posting this information.
Alice