October 7, 2024 | CTV News via UVic News
In the fiercely competitive world of beer brewing, Phillips Brewing has turned to science to gain a unique edge. By breaking down their beer to the molecular level, they aim to uncover the secrets behind its distinctive taste and ingredient interactions, with a particular focus on the role of hops and their essential oils in flavor development.
To achieve this, they enlisted the expertise of UVic’s Dr. Katherine Elvira and her lab. By creating tiny droplets of hop oils surrounded by beer, Dr. Elvira’s team meticulously analyzed these samples under the microscope. After numerous experiments and years of research, they made a groundbreaking discovery: a molecule that bonds beer together, preventing it from becoming an oily mess. That molecule? Gluten.
But why does this matter to Phillips Brewing? With this newfound knowledge, Phillips can craft more flavorful beers with longer shelf lives. They can apply this understanding across all their IPAs and hazy beers, creating recipes with intention and precision.
Beyond revolutionizing beer, Dr. Elvira is an Associate Professor and Canada Research Chair in Microfluidics for Drug Discovery and Health Care at the University of Victoria (UVic). Her research focuses on developing microfluidic (lab-on-a-chip) technologies for drug discovery and healthcare applications. She works at the intersection of chemistry, biology, and engineering, with projects ranging from droplet-based cell assays to surfactant kinetics, artificial cells, surface chemistry, and computational optimization.
Dr. Elvira’s research not only answers a long-standing question in the world of brewing but is also paving the way for advancements in drug discovery and healthcare, showcasing her versatility and impact in multiple scientific fields. To explore more of Dr. Elvira’s important work, visit UVicSpace, the University of Victoria’s institutional repository.
