For two years the brewery and the company specialized in applied microbiology have been working on the search for the wild yeast with the most organoleptic properties with a Valencian character
Darwin Bioprospecting Excellence, a company located in the University of Valencia Science Park, is specialist in bioprospecting, it is, obtaining natural microorganisms that are of interest in industrial or biomedical processes due to their excellent biological activity. And this is precisely the work they have done for the Antiga Artesana brewery: the search for a yeast that would give this drink organoleptic properties rooted in Valencia.
"To make a simile, in beers it happens as with cheap furniture, they all end up being the same, and it is not easy to distinguish which is which. That's why we proposed Antiga Artesana to give its beer a more aromatic profile. They know how to make beer and we select native yeasts, carry out small-scale fermentation tests and manufacture the selected yeast in our laboratory," explains Manel Porcar, president of Darwin Bioprospecting Excellence.
They do not reveal the origin of the wild yeast finally selected and produced in the Darwin Bioprospecting Excellence laboratory in the University of Valencia Science Park, but they do advance that it gives an organoleptic profile that reminds us of the city. "It may sound like a cliché, but it reflects our character, you recognise that it is from Valencia because it identifies with our aromas and flavours. In flavour you can appreciate the natural orange and in aroma that of the rice and the humid soil of the orange groves", underlines Antonio Burguet, Antiga Artesana's brewing director.
It has taken two years to reach the final yeast and both, master brewers and Darwin's entire team, made up of specialists in biotechnology and microbiology, have been involved in this process. The beer Torna a València!, as it has been called, will go on sale at the end of July from the Antiga Artesana factory in Catarroja. It will be available on the Internet, in specialist shops and in Barbacana restaurant (València).
Two Valencian companies
Darwin Bioprospecting Excellence is dedicated to microbial bioprospecting, and its range of action includes the application of natural microorganisms in the food industry. Among other specialties, they are experts in the isolation and production of wild yeasts for making bread or fermented beverages. For its part, Antiga Artesana has been creating artisanal beer since 2014 and has won several national and international awards in specialized contests.