Every time you drink a pint of lager, you owe a debt to a small fungus that lives in the beech forests of Patagonia. This previously undescribed species – Saccharomyces eubayanus – merged with a close relative to create a hybrid, whose fermenting abilities produce all of today’s lagers. Without it, our pints would have a much darker complexion.

Ask someone to think of a domesticated species and they’ll probably think of something like a dog, cat, cow or horse. But domesticated fungi are just as close to our hearts or, at least, our livers.  The yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiase, has been used to bake bread and ferment wine or ales for centuries. But it’s only partially involved in lagers.

Lager is fermented