Yeast and the Victorian Brewers: Incidents and Personalities in the Search for the True Ferment*

Events in the elucidation of the role of yeast in fermentation up to the end of the nineteenth century are described. It is concluded that, contrary to the popular view, the more enlightenend brewers had deduced the true nature of yeast prior to the time of Pasteur and were in advance of the dogma of the chemical establishment as represented by Liebig. The activities of scientists of the Victorian period employed in the Burton-on-Trent breweries are placed within this context.