Wild yeasts give beer a regional flavor
The term “terroir” is what wine connoisseurs use to describe what their tongues tell them about the place where the wine’s ingredients were grown. It’s the distinctive flavor that comes from the combination of climate, soil and grape variety when the ingredients are local.
Greenville’s SouthYeast Labs wants to bring that same sensibility to beer, creating a beverage that reveals the “terroir” of our region.
In the midst of a nationwide craft beer boom, the startup began with the question, “What can we have that nobody else can have?” said Chief Technical Officer David Thornton. The answer was in the land, which cannot be moved or replicated. More specifically, it is in the yeasts that are part of the regional ecosystem.
SouthYeast harvests yeast growing in the wild to find out which strains make the best-tasting, most distinctive beers.
Thornton described a simple process: SouthYeast goes to outdoor locations in search of organic material on which yeast grows naturally. That might be on a beehive, a piece of fruit or some tree sap. What’s found is taken to a lab and encouraged to grow until the sample is big enough for experimentation.
The yeast is put through “boot camp” to see if it can tolerate the harsh environment that is created in the brewing process, he said. If the yeast survives, it’s time to see if it will make a tasty beer. Batches are tested 20 gallons at a time.
SouthYeast CEO Even Skjervold says he took a creative inquiry class on the science of beer – three times – while earning a degree in biomedical engineering at Clemson. He then went on to Clemson’s MBAe entrepreneurship program where he is currently enrolled. The company is the child of a marriage between education in science and business.
SouthYeast will be located inside Brewery 85’s 10,000-square-foot facility now under construction on 6.3 acres behind the Proterra electric bus manufacturing operations center near Laurens Road and I-85.
SouthYeast will take up a mere 250 square feet at the brewery. Although the operation is small, laboratory-grade equipment is costly, Skjervold said. Raising funds without spending too much on it has been the startup’s biggest challenge. He describes the process as “pretty live, quick-turnaround R&D,” which does not come cheap. The goal is to create at least 10 proprietary strains per year.
SouthYeast plans to be fully self-funded. Samples of various yeast strains are available for hobby brewers to purchase.
Like the founders of many companies started as a side gig to another careers, Skjervold and Thornton are staying busy trying to strike a balance among their responsibilities. Thornton teaches in the biofuels program at Clemson University. He said the development of beers made with harvested yeasts is very similar to the process of creating biofuels. Right now, beer is more exciting.
“My biggest hurdle is I want to do this 24 hours a day. I’d be out here swinging a hammer and doing whatever it takes to make this thing go faster if I could,” Thornton said standing at the construction site.
SouthYeast found its first brewery partnership with Brewery 85, which opened in Greenville earlier this year. President Will McCameron said he has been an enthusiastic ambassador for SouthYeast and has paid up front for a year’s worth of yeast as part of the contribution to SouthYeast’s startup funds.
It’s not only the yeast that gives beer its flavor. Growing conditions influence all the grains used in beer production, and so all contribute to a unique regional essence. For that reason, SouthYeast works with Riverbend Malt House in Asheville, which makes its malts from locally grown grains.
Eventually, SouthYeast plans to expand its reach, hunting and harvesting yeast that will help brewers throughout the country discover the unique flavors of their own regions. Ten companies in the Carolinas and Tennessee have been working with test batches, and three of them are ready to begin using SouthYeast product on a larger scale. Beers are available at Grape and Grains in Greenville.
The men plan to plant an orchard on the property, extending the laboratory outdoors. It will be home to “anything that will take root – native Southern fruits,” as Thornton put it.
