A brewery’s yeast is the heart and soul of its beer. Our own strains date back generations and require strict management by our in-house team of microbiologists to keep their character pure.
Typically a UK brewer will keep two or three yeast strains at most, each one a closely guarded and highly lucrative commercial asset. Shepherd Neame uses six, meaning our management processes have to be second-to-none to keep each strain separate and secure.
Each batch of yeast will be used between eight and 12 times before it is replaced with a fresh culture, drawn from the National Collection of Yeast Cultures in Norwich, or from our brewing partners around the world.