brettanomyces brettanomyces brettanomyces is a non-spore forming genus of yeast in the family saccharomycetaceae, and is often colloquially referred to as "brett". the genus name dekkera is used interchangeably with brettanomyces, as it describes the teleomorph or spore forming form of the yeast, but is considered deprecated under the one fungus, one name change. the cellular morphology of the yeast can vary from ovoid to long "sausage" shaped cells. the yeast is acidogenic, and when grown on glucose rich media under aerobic conditions, produces large amounts of acetic acid. brettanomyces is important to both the brewing and wine industries due to the sensory compounds it produces. brettanomyces colonies of yeast brettanomyces bruxellensis on agar plates containing phloxine b. scientific classification kingdom: fungi division: ascomycota class: saccharomycetes order: saccharomycetales family: pichiaceae genus: brettanomyces species b. anomalus b. bruxellensis b. claussenii b. custersianus b. naardenensis b. nanus in the wild, brettanomyces lives on the skins of fruit. history in 1889, seyffert of the kalinkin brewery in st. petersburg was the first to isolate a "torula" from english beer which produced the typical "english" taste in lager beer, and in 1899 jw tullo at guinness described two types of "secondary yeast" in irish stout. however n. hjelte claussen at the carlsberg brewery was the first to publish a description in 1904, following a 1903 patent (uk patent gb190328184) that was the first patented microorganism in history. the term brettanomyces comes from the greek for "british fungus". wine