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==Introduction of History, Characteristics, and Taxonomy==
Closely related to ''Saccharomyces'', ''Brettanomyces'' diverged from its cousin yeast more than 200 million years ago, around the same time that the first mammals emerged <ref name="Rozpędowska">[https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms1305 Rozpędowska, E., Hellborg, L., Ishchuk, O. et al. Parallel evolution of the make–accumulate–consume strategy in Saccharomyces and Dekkera yeasts. Nat Commun 2, 302 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms1305.]</ref>. Both genera evolved independently to ferment sugar and produce ethanol <ref name="Schifferdecker">[http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/yea.3023/pdf The wine and beer yeast Dekkera bruxellensis. Anna Judith Schifferdecker, Sofia Dashko, Olena P. Ishchuk, and Jure Piškur. 7 July 2014.]</ref><ref name="Gounot_2019">[https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/826990v1.full High complexity and degree of genetic variation in Brettanomyces bruxellensis population. Jean-Sébastien Gounot, Cécile Neuvéglise, Kelle C. Freel, Hugo Devillers, Jure Piškur, Anne Friedrich, Joseph Schacherer. 2019. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1101/826990 .]</ref>. Although first isolated from beer in 1889 by H. Seyffert of the Kalinkin Brewery in St. Petersberg and again in 1899 by J. W. Tullo at Guinness, the discovery of ''Brettanomyces'' was first publicly published by the Director of laboratory of the New Carlsberg Brewery, Hjelte Claussen, in 1904 after he cultured it in 1903 from English beers that exhibited a sluggish secondary fermentation . At the time, he included these newly discovered yeasts in the genus ''Torula'' <refname="Gilliland_1961">[https://crescentcitybrewtalk.com/brettanomyces-i/ "BRETTANOMYCES I OCCURRENCE, CHARACTERISTICS, AND EFFECTS ON BEER FLAVOUR" by R. B. Gilliland, B.A., B.Sc, F.R.I.C. (Arthur Guinness Son & Co. (Dublin) Ltd., St. James’s Gate, Dublin). Received 21st Janurary, 1961.] See also [http://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/2013/06/when-was-brettanomyces-discovererd.html "When was Brettanomyces discovered?" Ron Pattenson. Shut Up About Barclay Perkins blog. 06/29/2013. Retrieved 08/18/2016.]</ref><ref>[http://breweryhistory.com/journal/archive/149/Yeast.pdf Ray Anderson. "ONE YEAST OR TWO? PURE YEAST AND TOP FERMENTATION". The Brewery History Society. 2012.]</ref>. At the time of discovery, Claussen was aiming to recreate the flavor profile of traditional English ales by fermenting them with pure cultures of ''Saccharomyces'', and either pitching pure cultures of his newly discovered ''Brettanomyces'' yeast along with ''Saccharomyces'', or as he preferred, after the primary fermentation of ''Saccharomyces'' <ref>[https://www.facebook.com/download/448702618652516/GB190328184A.pdf "Improvements in and connected with the Manufacture of English Beers or Malt Liquors and in the Production of Pure Yeast Cultures for use therein." Patent application by Hjelte Claussen for ''Brettanomyces''. A.D. 1903.]</ref>. ''Brettanomyces'', along with [[Hops#The_Freshening_Power_of_the_Hop_.28Hop_Creep.29|dry hop creep]], was identified as the source of secondary fermentation during long aged ales, contributing to their lasting high carbonation <ref>[https://archive.org/details/principlespracti00syke "The principles and practice of brewing" Sykes, Walter John. London, C. Griffin and Company, limited, 1907. Pgs 384-388.]</ref><ref>[https://www.facebook.com/groups/MilkTheFunk/permalink/4709953772366133 Gareth Young. Milk The Funk Facebook group thread about English brewers historically relying on Brettanomyces and dry hop creep for carbonation in long aged ales. 06/17/2021.]</ref><ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BwO7gbhdns Martyn Cornell interview on Craft Beer Channel, "The Time Is Now – reinventing the English IPA". 09/28/2022.]</ref>(8 minutes in). Beer historian, [https://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/search?q=brettanomyces Ron Pattinson], has stated that ''Brettanomyces'' was typically present in 1800's English aged beers such as stock ales, pale ales, porters, and barrel aged IPA's that were shipped to India, and it was considered an important component of both the flavor profile of these beers and in protecting beer from contaminants via ''Brettanomyces'' fermenting the majority of residual sugars <ref>[https://www.crowdcast.io/e/IPA-Past-Present-Future/1 Ron Pattinson. "History of IPA -1700s to 2021". Doug Piper's interview with Ron Pattinson. 07/25/2021.]</ref> (~56 and 59 mins in )<ref>[https://www.facebook.com/milkthefunkthepodcast/videos/1097016944410369 Ron Pattinson. MTF Live. 02/10/2022.]</ref> (45 minutes in).
Following the discovery of this yeast by Claussen, isolates of ''Brettanomyces'' were discovered in Belgian lambic beers in the 1920's. At this time, ''Brettanomyces'' was proposed as the new genus name, separating them from the genus ''Torula'' <ref name="Gilliland_1961" />. The species name 'bruxellensis', meaning 'Brussels' in Latin, became the proposed species name for ''B. bruxellensis.''. This yeast species was then isolated from other industrial fermentations such as wine, cider, kombucha, kefir, olives, and bioethanol production. Custers was the first to attempt to describe the rest of the genus using phenotypic characteristics in 1940. In 1960, J. van der Walt observed some species of ''Brettanomyces'' formed ascospores, and this form of ''Brettanomyces'' was named ''Dekkera''. However, after the initial discovery of sporulating strains of ''Brettanomyces'', this behavior has not been reported since, therefore some scientists prefer to use the term "''Brettanomyces''" to refer to this genus. Originally, a total of 9 species were attributed to the genus ''Brettanomyces'', but after gene technology was invented, some of these species were changed (see [[Brettanomyces#Taxonomy|Taxonomy]] below) <ref name="Stenseels_2015_Essential">[https://www.academia.edu/19646963/Brettanomyces_Bruxellensis_Essential_Contributor_in_Spontaneous_Beer_Fermentations_Providing_Novel_Opportunities_for_the_Brewing_Industry Brettanomyces Bruxellensis, Essential Contributor in Spontaneous Beer Fermentations Providing Novel Opportunities for the Brewing Industry. Jan Steensels. BrewingScience, Sept/Oct 2015 (Vol. 68). 2015.]</ref>.
Although Claussen and others saw the character from ''Brettanomyces'' as a desirable character in English ales and identified its character as a hallmark quality of traditional English ales, as pure cultures of ''Saccharomyces'' were introduced in English brewing in the early 20th century, ''Brettanomyces'' became identified as a contaminate in both wineries and breweries due to some of the phenols, acids, and haze that it sometimes produces. These phenols and acids have generally been described as "barnyard", "burnt plastic", "wet animal", "fecal", and "horse sweat", although some tasters describe these flavors with different terminology because they perceive certain flavor compounds differently while some other tasters simply cannot detect certain flavor compounds at all <ref name="smith_divol_2016" /><ref name="Schifferdecker" /><ref name="Lucy_2015">[http://www.ajevonline.org/content/66/3/379 Brettanomyces bruxellensis Aroma-Active Compounds Determined by SPME GC-MS Olfactory Analysis. C.M. Lucy Joseph, Elizabeth A. Albino, Susan E. Ebeler, Linda F. Bisson. 2015.]</ref>. The general viewpoint of brewers (other than Lambic brewers, Flanders red/brown brewers, and certain Trappist brewers in Belgium, as well as Berliner Weisse brewers in Berlin, Germany) and vintners became that ''Brettanomyces'' is primarily a spoilage organism, and this still holds in most cases today. More recently, however, the positive flavor components that have been identified in ''Brettanomyces'' beer such as "pineapple", "stone fruits", and to some degree acetic acid, have regained popularity with brewers outside of Belgium. Some winemakers and wine tasters have also described wines with certain flavor compounds derived from ''Brettanomyces'' as positive characteristics of some wines <ref>[https://daily.sevenfifty.com/the-everything-guide-to-brettanomyces/ "The Everything Guide to Brettanomyces." GuildSomm. April 15, 2018. Retrieved 03/04/2021.]</ref><ref>[https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/nzg.12368 Siimes, N. (2023). Having a drink with awkward Brett: Brettanomyces, taste(s) and wine/markets. New Zealand Geographer, 1– 11. https://doi.org/10.1111/nzg.12368.]</ref>. It is important to keep in mind that individual tasters on tasting panels describe some flavor compounds as "negative" while others describe them as "positive" (and sometimes a mixed response is given by a taster in regards to a certain flavor compound). This discrepancy in acceptability of flavor characteristics derived from ''Brettanomyces'' appears to be based on personal preference and experience. For example, in some cases and for some drinkers low levels of vinyl phenols produced by ''Brettanomyces'' contribute positively to wine, while higher amounts contribute negatively. Thus, a lower intensity of some flavor compounds can be seen as more desirable by some producers or consumers. Overall, the enjoyment or displeasure of the various flavor compounds produced by ''Brettanomyces'' and at certain levels is largely subjective <ref name="Lucy_2015" /><ref>[https://www.guildsomm.com/public_content/features/articles/b/kelli-white/posts/brettanomyces Brettanomyces: Science & Context. Kelli White. GuildSomm website. 03/29/2018. Retrieved 05/10/2019.]</ref>.