Thiolized: Accessible Biotransformation

Consider Thiolized™ yeast your newest tool to brew juicier, more vibrant beers through biotransformation. The term 'Thiolized' refers to our series of yeast strains that make flavor and aromatic compounds, called thiols, easily accessible.
We spent some time with Scott Janish of Sapwood Cellars and Erik Zwack of Arizona Wilderness and chatted all things Thiolized in the brewing industry today, the science behind it, and where it's going. Watch the video above or hit the link below to learn more about how our first Thiolized yeast strain, Cosmic Punch™ (OYL-402), is just scratching the surface on the future of brewing.
Check out this link for more information: bit.ly/3kpwB2c

[@sjporr]

I am totally digging this interesting way of hopping and how it reacts with the yeast. My mind is blown right now!!

[@KellerBi3r]

keep releasing great content like this! 🍻

[@evandernet]

So exciting!!! Really hope we can one day get our hands on Cosmic Punch as well as the Phantasm Powder as Canadian Homebrewers.

[@slowpaddlebrewnbbq]

Odered Phantasm Powder with Helio Gazer yeast to brew this weekend...... super psyched for this!

[@Primo_extracts]

Is thiolization only possible through fermentation? I'm curious what are some of the ways to unlock the precursors?

[@OmegaYeast]

Hey there! Short answer is yes. To truly unlock the thiol precursor in malt and hops, the yeast must be bioengineered to have the proper capabilities. We used CRISPR for the Thiolized series and other bioengineered strains. Hope that helps!

[@brandonmyers4617]

Are these precursor present in honey? Or specific varietals I wonder?

[@OmegaYeast]

Hey Brandon - We have no knowledge of precursors in honey. It's not something we have tested, but it seems highly unlikely thiol precursors would be present in honey.

[@GirthySquirt]

Every thiol compound I have ever smelled smells horrible, like rotten eggs or something rotting (certainly something not pleasant). I work in a wet chemical lab. What am I missing here?

[@OmegaYeast]

A Thiol is a class of sulfur compound and they've all got different aromas. They occur in many foods including garlic, onion, cabbage, coffee, chocolate, beans, chlorella, and coriander leaf. The thiol that is primarily released by our Thiolized yeast strains from precursors in malt and hops is 3SH-which evokes passionfruit and citrus. Here's a link to our Thiolized info page that breaks down what we've done: omegayeast.com/all-about-our-thiolized-yeast-series

[@GirthySquirt]

@@OmegaYeast Hi Omega Yeast, thank you for the reply! I went and read this technical page and had a few more questions regarding these volatile sulfur compounds (VSC). An article from Bruce Zoecklein at Virginia Tech wrote "Managing VSC represents a double-edged sword. On the one hand, certain sulfur-containing compounds, like H2S, can contribute to sulfur-like off flavor and impart negative attributes; on the other hand, some sulfur compounds, like 3-mercaptohexanol and 3-mercaptohexylacetate (3-MHA), impart fruitiness and have a positive aroma impact. Furthermore, VSC compounds can become more or less desirable, depending upon their absolute concentration, their relative concentration, and the specific wine matrix. Therefore, the challenge for winemakers is to modulate the concentrations of VSC in accordance with consumer preferences and stylistic goals." This is with regards to wine making but I believe similar logic applies. If I understand your process correctly, you have gene-spliced the new ability for the yeast to encode an enzyme that can take the precursor thiols and convert them to their "free form" - it follows that the new compounds generated might not all be pleasant smelling (like 3-MHA) and may be more sulfuric towards off-flavor like H2S (and many of the mercaptans that I work with). Does this gene addition to the yeast enable the creation of thiol compounds beyond just the pleasant "volatile aromatic thiols" during fermentation? How does the beta-lyase enzyme contribute to sulphur containing compounds that take on the familiar rotten egg smell?

[@OmegaYeast]

@@GirthySquirt The PatB enzyme in Star Party is specific to the 3SH precursor. There are some thiols like 4MMP, that become unpleasant at high levels (cat pee), but there isn't a significant amount of 4MMP precursor in malt or hops. 3SH and 3SHA don't share the feature of 4MMP of being unpleasant at high amounts.

[@GirthySquirt]

@@OmegaYeast Thank you for the information!

[@BeeRich33]

Egg beer.

[@kennethhathaway3090]

have been using small ultrasonic cleaners for making Aging alcohol Cannabis edibles, Tinctures and Coloidal Silver.I had the Idea to try it on my Fermentation of grain mash. My hopes were to make the mash into smaller particles and increasing surface area. I hoped to increase Bioavailability for the yeast. The 6 gal. plastic bucket I used for it kept blowing its top off as the bubbler was unable to keep up with the new rate of fermentation. I had to resort to taping the lid down with duct tape, Watching the bucket bulge from unreleased pressure and hoping it did not explode. !!WARNING DO NOT USE A GLASS VESSEL FOR FERMENTING IF YOU SHOULD TRY THIS METHOD!! I had hoped to show the increased speed of fermentation in this video. I made two mistakes. I used some pretty old yeast and I did not malt the grain first.
Still the control had not even started before the ultrasounde grain had filled its bag full. I believe if I had used a malted grain and newer Yeast the results would have been more dramatic for you to see. I am very new to brewing, only three batches with using ultrasound to decrease particle size the third batch. I did try a sugar wash 4th batch using the ultrasound but saw no changes in the speed of fermentation. . I am hoping someone with a better set up and greater brewing knowledge can experiment with this and show the actual rate of increase. (I believe it to be about 300% or better)
This could have a major significance in such a large market as alcohol and fuel.A factor to consider is stirring the grai water mixture in the ultrasound as a heavy layer of grain at the bottom may reduce effectiveness. I used a 60 watt, 40khz ultrasound unit with just one transducer on this video . On the earlier bucket run I used a home made unit with two 40 khz transducers. Finding the optimal range of transducers, frequency , volume, stir rate and length of time I leave to future brewers with more capital and time to find