Japanese Patent Awarded for Hydrogen Sulfide-Preventing Yeast Technology for Wine, Sake, Beer and Cider

VANCOUVER, BC, April 24, 2014 (Press-News.org) Renaissance Yeast Inc. is pleased to announce that The University of California (UC) has been awarded a patent from the Japan Patent Office protecting its hydrogen sulfide-preventing yeast technology in that country. This now brings to sixteen the total patents issued, including those granted in major wine producing countries such as France, Italy, Spain, United States, China, Argentina and Australia. Patents are also pending in a number of other countries. Renaissance is the exclusive global licensee of UC's hydrogen sulfide-preventing technology for wine, beer, cider, sake and other yeast-fermenting applications. All Renaissance yeasts have been naturally developed through classical means and are non-GMO. Certified organic strains are also available.

"Hydrogen sulfide is a natural byproduct of traditional wine, cider and beer fermentations and a significant quality problem for these industries around the world. This step in expanding the patent protection by The University of California enables Renaissance to commercialize and develop our products in the global marketplace with confidence," said Dr. John Husnik, CEO of Renaissance Yeast Inc.

In addition to producing sake (rice wine) for domestic and export markets, Japan has a wide range of grape varieties that supports a robust (grape) wine industry. Japan is also the world's seventh largest beer producer.

About hydrogen sulfide and H2S-preventing yeasts
Estimated to affect more than 20 percent of wine fermentations worldwide, hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is a colorless volatile gas that imparts a distinctive unpleasant odor in fermented beverages such as wine, sake, beer and cider. It has also been shown to mask or reduce positive sensory flavor attributes of wine and beer even at extremely low concentrations. Winemakers incur significant remediation costs to counter its negative effects and to remove it. The use of Renaissance Yeast H2S-preventing strains as the dominant yeast in fermentation prevents this problem and eliminates the unnecessary remediation costs. Winemakers already using these yeasts have noted that, in the complete absence of H2S made possible by Renaissance yeasts, the wine is more "open" and expresses its full flavor.

This proprietary and novel H2S-preventing yeast advancement was discovered by Dr. Linda Bisson of the Department of Viticulture and Enology at the University of California, Davis (UC Davis). Over the last five years, Dr John Husnik and his team, working under an exclusive license from The University of California, have conducted additional development and commercial field testing and adoption with numerous wineries in the USA and Europe.

The aim of this work has been to develop and perfect, through classical breeding techniques, the Renaissance brand commercial yeast strains. Not only are Renaissance Yeast wine yeast strains incapable of formingH2S during fermentation, they also have normal sulfur dioxide (SO2) production qualities, making them an ideal tool for the quality winemaker. In addition, Renaissance also offers fully certified organic strains of our wine yeasts to provide organic winemakers a mechanism to bypass hydrogen sulfide contamination that fully meets organic winemaking criteria.

Renaissance Yeast Inc. (www.renaissanceyeast.com) is focused on the development and commercialization of the exclusively licensed, patented H2S-preventing yeast technology discovered by Dr. Linda Bisson of the University of California, Davis. Renaissance Yeast is responsible for global sales, marketing and technical support of the Renaissance brand of H2S-preventing wine yeast strains. The company also has an extensive research program on new yeast strain development for wines and other yeast-fermented alcoholic beverages.