“Science and Beer”, a meeting that gathers the scientific-technological area with the brewing sector

In the cities of Buenos Aires and Bariloche, scientists are going to deliver talks and training to improve the quality of craft beer.


For more than twenty years, a research team at the Laboratorio de Microbiología Aplicada, Biotecnología y Bioinformática de Levaduras of the Instituto Andino Patagónico de Tecnologías Biológicas y Geoambientales (IPATEC, CONICET-UNCOMA) in Bariloche led by researcher Diego Libkind Frati works with the brewing sector in order to improve their competitiveness, profitability and quality, and obtain value added and productive differentiation. For this reason, this research team keeps and provides yeast for the sector and offers analytical services and technical training to facilitate tools that improve the quality of Argentine beer.

With this objective, on April 27th, at the Centro Cultural de la Ciencia (C3) of the Polo Científico Tecnológico de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires, the “Autonomous City of Buenos Aires: Science and Beer” is going to take place. There will be an international brewer’s yeast where experts will provide theoretical and technical tools for the brewers to improve the production of the beer. This is also an opportunity to gather the scientific community and academics with the general public. The activity is supported by the Cámara de Cerveceros Artesanales de Argentina (CCAA).

The event continues in Patagonia with “Bariloche: Ciencia y Cerveza”. From April 28th to May 1st, there will be varied technical and social activities and talks between the scientific and the brewing worlds, which have so much in common. The meeting is organized by the IPATEC, the Centro Científico Tecnológico CONICET Patagonia Norte and the Secretaría de Ciencia, Tecnología y Desarrollo para la Producción de la Provincia de Río Negro.

This event comprises: the “2nd National Brewing Science and Technology Workshops”, which include technical talks, poster presentations and six training activities, and the “CONICET se vincula” space organized by the Technology Transfer Office of the Council. This space was designed to share the experiences and interaction opportunities between scientists and brewers. The IPATEC is going to present the first 100% Argentine beer they have developed with Patagonian yeast. The presentation will include the different regional products tastings and visits to factories of the Asociación de Cervecerías Artesanales de Bariloche (ACAB).

It is worth mentioning that the Event “Bariloche: Science and Beer” comes after the success of the first edition of the Brewing Science and Technology Workshops that took place in 2015 and were organized by the IPATEC.  More than 180 people attended those workshops that were also declared as activities of “regional interest” by the “Consejo Deliberante de la Municipalidad de San Carlos de Bariloche.”

The IPATEC has already trained more than six hundred brewers from Argentina and other neighboring countries in order to develop the brewing sector and its value chain. The courses -which will run from April 29th to May 1st at the Centro Regional Universitario Bariloche (CRUB) of the Universidad Nacional del Comahue- will focus on the improvement of beer production, administration and reuse of yeast, the control of the pollutants, beer sensory analysis and brewing microscopy.

 

On the craft brewing sector of Bariloche and IPATEC work

 Currently, the brewing activity represents an important economic force with 25% to 30% annual growth which impacts on the national territory. There are at least 450 small brewers in the country that generates employment and boost regional economy.

Bariloche is known as a scientific and technological “polo” [center] and despite its strong background on public-private interaction; there is growth potential on the brewing sector. It is worth mentioning that most of the yeast used in the production is imported.

The IPATEC has the largest collection of yeast in Latin America. Since 2011, the institute has one type of wild yeast (Saccharomyces eubayanus) found in the Patagonian forest by Libkind and a research team in Argentina, Portugal and USA. It is the lager yeast, which is nowadays used to produce almost 95% of the industrial beer worldwide.

The IPATEC team has made progress on the yeast’s domestication process and the procedure to make it suitable for fermentation in breweries. The idea is to produce unique beers in the world with a regional identity, that is to say, with local supplies such as the Patagonian hop, the thawing water from the local glaciers, barley and the national star: the Patagonian yeast.


CABA: “Science and Beer”

Schedule
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Bariloche: “Science and Beer”

Schedule

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More information:
www.conicet.gov.ar/cienciaycerveza
www.ipatec.conicet.gob.ar

If you want to know more about “Science and Beer” and the relationship between the IPATEC and the brewing sector, click here.