---
title: "The Mother of All Lager Yeasts That Grows in the Forests of Chilean Patagonia"
description: "Hidden for centuries in the bark of lenga beeches, coigüe trees and araucarias of the Patagonian forest, the lost genetic link from which all the world's lager beers are born."
url: https://www.thebeertimes.com/en/mother-of-all-lager-yeasts-forests-chilean-patagonia/
date: 2021-10-01
modified: 2026-06-28
author: "Carlos Uhart M."
image: https://www.thebeertimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Levadura-nativa-Patagonia-chilena.jpg
categories: ["Culture"]
tags: ["Beer Yeast", "Chile", "Fermentation", "Science"]
type: post
lang: en
---

# The Mother of All Lager Yeasts That Grows in the Forests of Chilean Patagonia

By **[dicyt.com](https://www.dicyt.com/noticias/el-hallazgo-de-una-levadura-salvaje-lleva-a-la-creacion-de-la-primera-cerveza-nativa-de-la-patagonia)**

In the bark of lenga beech, coigüe and araucaria trees in the Chilean Patagonian forest, the lost genetic link from which all the world’s lager beers are born lay hidden for centuries.

![Lager yeast fungus](https://www.thebeertimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Hongo_Levaduras.jpg)*Cyttaria espinosae (llao llao or digüeñes)*

With an annual per capita consumption of 52.6 liters, Chile is the fourth largest beer consumer in Latin America, surpassed only by Mexico, Brazil and Colombia.

However, despite strong sales and consumption figures, all the [beer varieties](https://www.thebeertimes.com/en/beer-types-origin-and-styles/) available on the market — including domestic brands — have a “foreign” origin when it comes to the yeasts used to brew them.

Take the case of lager-style beers, the most consumed type of beer not only in Chile but worldwide, recognizable by their pronounced flavor best enjoyed cold and their typical golden color in the most common versions.

95% of the industry that produces this beer uses, for fermentation, a yeast variety known as *Saccharomyces pastorianus*, developed over 500 years in the Bavaria region of southeastern Germany and first discovered in the Carlsberg brewery’s laboratories by [Emil Christian Hansen](https://www.thebeertimes.com/louis-pasteur-y-emil-christian-hansen-los-doctores-de-la-cerveza/) in 1875.

Since at least 1985, it has been known that *Saccharomyces pastorianus* is a hybrid yeast — the result of combining two pure yeast species.

While half of its genes come from the much more common *Saccharomyces cerevisiae*, used in the production of ale or “top-fermented” beers, the other half comes from a species whose identity eluded scientists for many years.

## The Yeast That Crossed the Pond

That changed in 2011, when a group of researchers led by [Diego Libkind](http://www.fiq.unl.edu.ar/aniversariofiq/docentes/diego-libkind-2/) discovered a new variety of the genus *Saccharomyces* on the other side of the world — in the Andean Patagonian forests, specifically on fungi of the genus *Cyttaria* (known locally as *digüeñes*) growing on trees of the genus *Nothofagus*.

The new species, they found, was not only similar to *Saccharomyces pastorianus* in its ability to ferment at low temperatures, but also shared a large portion of its genetic makeup.

![lager_vs_ale_diagrama](https://www.thebeertimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/lager_vs_ale_diagrama.jpg)*Ale fermentation vs. lager fermentation*

In fact, it matched 99.5% of the still-unidentified half of *Saccharomyces pastorianus*‘s genome.

Subsequent taxonomic studies confirmed that this was none other than [the “lost” mother of European lager yeasts](https://www.thebeertimes.com/en/the-origins-of-lager-yeast-and-its-transatlantic-journey-from-south-america/).

Other scientists have speculated that *Saccharomyces eubayanus* — the name given to this new yeast — may have traveled across the Atlantic in the legs of fruit flies swarming around beer barrels or fruit juice, surviving the intercontinental journey thanks to its ability to withstand cold.

Once in Europe, *Saccharomyces eubayanus* would have hybridized with *Saccharomyces cerevisiae* to give birth to *Saccharomyces pastorianus* which, despite being a sterile species, was able to replicate thanks to the conditions provided by the Bavarian master brewers who worked with it.

Even so, no pure strain of *Saccharomyces eubayanus* has yet been found on the European continent to confirm this hypothesis.

## On the Other Side of the Andes

Where *Saccharomyces eubayanus* does appear to have thrived is on both sides of the Andes, especially in the extensive *Nothofagus* forests of Chilean Patagonia.

It was there that evolutionary biologist Roberto Néspolo ([Center for Applied Ecology and Sustainability](http://www.capes.cl/) and [Universidad Austral](https://www.uach.cl/)), together with geneticist Francisco Cubillos ([Millennium Institute of Integrative Biology](https://www.ibio.cl/) and [Universidad de Santiago](https://www.usach.cl/)), not only confirmed the Patagonian origin of this diaspora to the Northern Hemisphere, but also revealed that the genetic lineage of this “mother yeast” reached other regions of the globe through a process of evolutionary co-occurrence.

![Francisco Cubillos and Roberto Néspolo](https://www.thebeertimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Francisco-Cubillos-y-Roberto-Nespolo.jpg)*Francisco Cubillos and Roberto Néspolo*

This was achieved through sampling carried out between 2017 and 2018 along 2,000 kilometers of forest, covering 10 national parks and reserves between the Maule and Magallanes regions, where strains of *Saccharomyces eubayanus* were collected from the bark of lenga beech trees (*Nothofagus pumilio*), coigüe (*N. dombeyi*), ñirre (*N. antartica*) and araucaria (*Araucaria araucana*).

From these samples, the researchers isolated 160 strains of *Saccharomyces eubayanus*, successfully sequencing the genome of 83 of them, revealing the enormous genetic diversity of this yeast in the region.

Roberto Néspolo explains:

> During our research, we demonstrated that the current distribution of this yeast has its origin and greatest diversity in Chilean Patagonia. From Talca to Karukinka we were able to learn about the differences in the fermentative capacity of the yeast — which is enormous — and how it varies, for example, with altitude and temperature. It is a very large heritage that was not known before this research.

## Beer with Native Chilean Yeast

In addition to a comprehensive phylogenetic analysis — carried out by [iBio](https://www.ibio.cl/) researcher Carlos Villarroel with support from Pablo Sáenz of the [Institute of Environmental and Evolutionary Sciences](http://icaev.cl/) (UACh) — the researchers identified a particular group of strains with great potential for beer production, through an evaluation of the different fermentative capacities of these yeasts and their production of volatile compounds.

Yeasts are a unicellular fungus that converts the sugars in beer wort into alcohol and CO2, a process known as fermentation, required for the [production of beer](https://www.thebeertimes.com/como-hacer-cerveza-artesanal-paso-a-paso/), wine and other fermented alcoholic beverages.

!["Lenga" beer](https://www.thebeertimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Cerveza-Lenga.jpg)*“Lenga” beer*

Once the best-performing strains were identified, Néspolo and Cubillos continued working with *S. eubayanus* to test its cold tolerance and continually improve its fermentation attributes and adaptability.

The goal: to promote the creation of new lager hybrids for brewing, as well as the standalone use of *Saccharomyces eubayanus*.

The first step toward these objectives was the launch of the “[Native Yeasts for Craft Beer](https://www.opia.cl/601/w3-article-117721.html)” project — a winner of Chile’s Innovation and Competitiveness Fund (FIC) and the Los Ríos Regional Council, led by engineer José Ruiz, with the collaboration of the Millennium Institute iBio, FONDECYT and CAPES.

The project, launched in 2019, included the signing of an agreement with representatives of the Valdivian brewing company Bundor, which allowed the researchers to begin the experimental work of extracting, isolating and analyzing these strains, followed in a second stage by working “with some producers in a broader analysis of this native yeast as a marketable product,” says Néspolo.

These initial partnerships were complemented by the construction in Valdivia of a laboratory specially equipped for the production of beer fermented with this native strain, whose installation and operation was handled by the Sayka brewery in Valdivia, with the ongoing advisory support of the *Saccharomyces eubayanus* research team.

And so, after many tests and attempts, in 2020 “[Lenga](https://www.beergeeks.cl/lanzamientos/lenga-cerveza-chilena-fermentada-con-levaduras-de-bosques-patagonicos/)” was born — Chile’s first craft beer with a denomination of origin.

The beer was produced and distributed by the Growler brewery, located on Isla Teja, whose team received the first yeast concentrate from the scientists with the mission of brewing and distributing the first 120 liters of the product.

## Next Steps

Since then, the beer created with this native yeast has gone through various validation stages, including a recent tasting held in April 2021, where a panel of experts from Valdivia, Los Lagos and Santiago evaluated three types of beers fermented with this strain: a Stout from the Cuello Negro brewery, a Hazy IPA from El Growler and a Hoppy Lager from Cervecería Sayka.

The tasting was part of a new FIC 20-32 project called “[Supporting the Economic Recovery of Craft Breweries with Native Strains](https://www.opia.cl/601/w3-article-117278.html),” which also involved the creation of a specialized craft beer analysis laboratory that will continue to promote the production and commercialization of this product in the region.

Néspolo, Cubillos and their team have also continued to generate scientific knowledge from experiments with *Saccharomyces eubayanus*, broadening what is known about the adaptive evolution of microorganisms and helping to better understand the domestication of wild yeasts.

For Roberto Néspolo, these studies have not only enriched the science surrounding the enormous microbiological diversity present in the forests of southern Chile — they have opened, and will continue to open, hundreds of possibilities for the brewing industry and other sectors.

All thanks to a tiny cold-adapted unicellular fungus found in the bark of a tree.

## Recommended

- [What is pH and how does it affect the beer brewing process at each stage](https://www.thebeertimes.com/que-es-el-ph-y-como-afecta-al-proceso-de-elaboracion-de-cerveza/)
- [How to make homemade craft beer step by step: everything you need to know](https://www.thebeertimes.com/como-hacer-cerveza-artesanal-paso-a-paso/)