Omega Yeast Bananza OYL-400

[thegrantickle]

Has anyone managed to get their hands on this Omega Yeast strain here in the UK? I'm desperate to try it out, as they have bio-engineered it so that it doesn't have the gene to produce 4-vinyl guaiacol (the phenol we perceive as clove). Have scoured the interwebs and nobody in the UK seems to sell it, i read somewhere that it's only available in the US because some countries don't allow bacteria/yeasts which have been GM to be used in food production.

I wondered if anyone has managed to sneak it in yet? :)

All help wildly appreciated.

 

[Northern_Brewer]

i read somewhere that it's only available in the US because some countries don't allow bacteria/yeasts which have been GM to be used in food production

To be more precise, it is an offence under Section 111 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 to "import or acquire, release or market any genetically modified organisms" in the UK without the right approvals, punishable by up to 5 years at Her Majesty's pleasure. (per section 118)

They take this stuff seriously.

It is possible to get approval for food products created using transgenics, and attitudes are softening, particularly when it comes to gene editing, but that's where we are today. There's been some threads over on HBT about Bananza but I've not paid close attention for the above reason, my memory is that it sounds like it is OK, but not transformational.

 

[Tess Tickle's Brewery]

Has anyone managed to get their hands on this Omega Yeast strain here in the UK? I'm desperate to try it out, as they have bio-engineered it so that it doesn't have the gene to produce 4-vinyl guaiacol (the phenol we perceive as clove). Have scoured the interwebs and nobody in the UK seems to sell it, i read somewhere that it's only available in the US because some countries don't allow bacteria/yeasts which have been GM to be used in food production.

I wondered if anyone has managed to sneak it in yet? :)

All help wildly appreciated.

This company sell Omega yeast. Been looking at this variety I've linked myself. Not sure if they have the numbered one you mention though.

https://www.thehomebrewery.co.uk/om...wCyznrHo1DRD-t9mtmq1kaAnm_UF8X-QaAsL_EALw_wcB

 

[thegrantickle]

To be more precise, it is an offence under Section 111 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 to "import or acquire, release or market any genetically modified organisms" in the UK without the right approvals, punishable by up to 5 years at Her Majesty's pleasure. (per section 118)

They take this stuff seriously.

It is possible to get approval for food products created using transgenics, and attitudes are softening, particularly when it comes to gene editing, but that's where we are today. There's been some threads over on HBT about Bananza but I've not paid close attention for the above reason, my memory is that it sounds like it is OK, but not transformational.

AHH. Thanks for this. Deffo not worth 5 behind bars. Guess I will use another yeast and have to work a little harder haha

 

[Northern_Brewer]

This company sell Omega yeast. Been looking at this variety I've linked myself. Not sure if they have the numbered one you mention though.

Omega yeasts are fairly easy to find these days, most of the big online retailers have them. But they won't have the transgenic strains, in the same way that they will stock Nottingham, Windsor and Philly Sour (a "natural" acid producer) but not Lallemand's Sourvisiae engineered acid yeast.