Christopher Curtin

Fermentation Microbiology

My laboratory’s focus is on the role of microbes in alcoholic beverage fermentation, with emphasis on brewing microbiology. I am interested in how the species that we use today to make beer, wine, cider and ethanol have evolved, and to what extent the same evolutionary forces have shaped the microbial ecology and genomes of other microbes found in these production environments. This knowledge can then be used to develop novel brewing starter cultures and management practices that improve microbial stability.