Random pro brewing Conan yeast question

[Garyblueberry]

Hi all,


Just a home brewer day dreaming of starting a brewery with a random question. So as i understand Conan is a licensed strain of yeast. Therefore you cannot buy it for your brewery. However, I have been using it for a few homebrews and really like it.

My question is if I were a pro brewery that cultured up some licensed yeast to brew my own beer with, would you have any legal ramifications from that? Or what's the deal?

Note, I do not own a brewery and am not actually going to execute this if I do one day fulfill my dream of starting a brewery, it's just a hypothetical. Any thoughts?

 

[FoCobrewguy]

You can buy Conan type yeast from Yeast Banks on the commercial side as well. Most the Wyeast and White Labs stuff that is offered to homebrewers can be bought on the commercial scale (5 gallon pitches). You could buy a pitch and keep your own culture going or just continue to buy pitches as needed. Most small breweries will just buy a pitch go 7-10 generations and than buy a new pitch.

 

[FoCobrewguy]

Oh and if you were to get your own culture going from something you bought you can send to a lab for isolation and they can build it back up for you. Pretty much what they are already doing though so don't see the value add there. Say you are a wild brewer with a Koelship and want to see what you are catching. Would be value add by sending to a lab to isolate and slant as needed.

 

[sven945]

I suppose what the original poster is asking about is can you hold intellectual property rights over a yeast? I'd imagine it's a no, but I think it'd need a test case to answer it for certain.