Brisbane biochemist Edward Kerr’s PhD may result in better tasting beer

A BRISBANE academic is pouring himself into a three-year search for better-tasting beer — and the State Government is helping to pay for his study.

Innovation and Science Minister Leeanne Enoch with PhD Scholar Edward Kerr and Newstead Brewing's Dr Mark Howes. Picture: Mark Calleja

WHILE his fellow PhD candidates toil away in laboratories and libraries, bio­chemist Edward Kerr will be heading to a brewery.

Mr Kerr, who might have found the greatest-ever topic for a PhD, has started a three-year search for a better-tasting beer that passes as legitimate study.

So legitimate that the State Government has poured $45,000 into a scholarship to help him research the potential of wild yeast as a flavour enhancer.

“While beer brewing is an established process, the underlying biochemistry behind it is poorly understood, so we aim to fill these gaps in the science,” the University of Queensland student said.

“Craft beer is currently driven mostly by hops, but yeast can also have a huge impact on the flavour of beer.

“We’re going to capture wild yeast from around Brisbane, see what different kinds of yeast we can find and see if you can make good craft beer from it.”

Mr Kerr is confident wild yeast can make beer taste “miles better”, and with a unique flavour tied to geographic areas such as the Story Bridge or Wheel of Brisbane.

“Different areas will give different yeasts which will potentially give huge differences in flavours,” he said.

One of the conditions of his Advance Queensland scholarship is that he spend 50 per cent of his research time at renowned Brisbane craft beer brewery Newstead.

The brewery’s managing director, Mark Howes, said the current movement in craft beer was towards local products and consumers knowing where all the resources came from.

“Brisbane people get excited about a Brisbane-based beer,” Dr Howes said.

Innovation and Science Minister Leeanne Enoch said the potential to create unique flavours would “create buzz” in the industry.

“We might be able to see beers that have unique Brisbane flavours,” she said.

“Can you imagine what an Ipswich beer might taste like, or a Logan beer or a Moreton beer?”

Working at Locos Bar in Bowen Hills yesterday, UK tourist Nina Whitehouse was dubious that it required a PhD to make beer any better.

“With all the choice at bars now I can’t imagine anyone not being able to find a good beer,” she said.