The practice of brewing beer is steeped in tradition; the earliest evidence of the drink dates back 13,000 years. With their company Berkeley Yeast, Rachel Li, BA ’08 Music, PhD ’18 Plant Biology, and Nick Harris, PhD ’19 Microbiology, are shaking up this storied industry by using synthetic biology to create bioengineered yeast strains that give brewers better tools for their craft.
The company traces its roots to a group of UC Berkeley alumni who met during their training in the Department of Plant and Microbial Biology.
Li met fellow company cofounder Charles Denby, PhD ’12 Molecular and Cellular Biology, now CEO, when they were conducting biofuels research in the lab of Jay Keasling, a professor in the Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering. Denby, a home brewer, realized that the terpenes they were creating in lab yeast were the same compounds that give hoppy beers their classic citrus aromas. He and Li brought in Harris, also a home brewer, as they figured out how to engineer two of those key compounds—linalool and geraniol—in brewer’s yeast. Keasling encouraged their efforts. “Jay provided the support and mentorship we needed,” Li says.
The transition from concept to company in 2017 was aided by a federal Small Business Innovation Research Grant as well as vital early feedback and interest that Denby and Li received at the World Brewing Congress, a major industry technical conference. “That was the light bulb moment of, ‘If we make this a commercial product, people would buy it,’” says Li.
Berkeley Yeast now works with hundreds of brewers nationwide, many of which have won awards for beers made using their “ordinary yeast made extraordinary.” The company now sells eight products, each engineered to offer more control over the biochemical outputs of fermentation–allowing brewers to make better beer. “I think a lot of brewers think of themselves as scientists,” Harris says. “They’re interested in preserving tradition but also excited about innovation and the potential of this technology.”
Berkeley Yeast’s top seller, Tropics, produces the passion fruit, guava, and grapefruit flavors prized in hops from New Zealand. “Brewers are using it to either reduce the amount of hops they’re using or as a complexity builder in their IPAs,” says Harris. Their Galactic yeast strain enables brewers to make sour beers without the time-consuming step of kettle pasteurization. Their non-alcoholic strains limit fermentation while preserving key flavors found in full-strength beers.
As vice president of operations, Li handles all staffing, finance, and regulatory issues, including those governing the construction of their new 9,500-square-foot R&D facility, where the research is conducted and supervised by vice president of R&D Jeremy Roop, PhD ’16 Microbiology, and driven by feedback from brewer customers and those on staff. “It’s amazing the amount we’ve learned,” Li says. “We figure out how to navigate new challenges all the time. That’s what makes it so fun.”
Harris, vice president of sales and marketing, oversees the advertising strategy, which includes a company newsletter, external ads, and in-person conventions such as the Craft Brewers Conference and the Brewing Summit, conferences hosted by the American Society of Brewing Chemists and the Master Brewers Association of the Americas. “Pouring beer for a room full of brewers is a great way to showcase our technology,” Harris says. “It’s pretty motivating for us to see their reactions.”
