Canadian government issues halt/ban on Wild-Sour-Funk brewing [April Fool’s Day]

April Fool’s!

Ottawa – Government officials regulating Canada’s microbrewing sector are rolling out an all-encompassing ban/halt of beer brewed with yeast other than Saccharomyces cerevisiae, it was announced this week.

Currently in Ontario, some of the most popular styles of beer are those that are in the funk, wild, and/or sour categories – all of which use non-traditional, un-regulated yeast or bacteria in its primary or secondary fermentation phase.

Saccharomyces cerevisiae – or “brewers yeast” – is the only yeast approved for brewing applications in Canada.

Yeast or bacteria that fall under the new ban include Brettanomyces (and all it’s sub-strains) and Lactobacillus (and all it’s sub-strains).

The justification behind the government ban is the need for proper regulation for these bacteria – which are typically found in nature on fruit skins, in the air, in wooden barrels, or other outdoor, unsanitary sources, cites the government issaunce C.392.BF.20180201.

“These bacterium need to be properly examined and regulated before we can continue to allow it’s widespread usage in the brewing of beer,” explains Kelly Bronson, CFAI associate director.

Effective Monday April 2, 2018 – all beer made in Ontario can no longer be brewed with a non-approved yeast.

“These particular bacteria can produce extreme adverse events when not properly utilized during the brewing process,” says University of Toronto biology professor Tim Armstrong. “Many brewers believe that the alcohol in beer renders the bacteria harmless, but Canada Health has received hundreds of reports of severe intestinal distress upon consumption of these types of beer.”

Many Ontario brewers expressed extreme frustration on social media over the new ban.

Numerous breweries in the province focus solely on those styles of beer and have no experience brewing traditional beer styles.

It was unclear how long the new regulation directive would take to implement.