Dear Colleagues,

Although pure culture fermentation dominates the global beverage fermentation industry, all beer- and wine-like beverages were originally the result of spontaneous fermentation by mixed cultures of microorganisms. Historically, this practice has continued in some brewing enclaves, typified by the Belgian Lambic tradition, but it has also seen a recent resurgence among craft brewers and home brewers worldwide. These populations of microbes and their influences on the final product have been understudied, and in many cases, the mixed cultures themselves are only defined at the level of knowing that “yeasts and bacteria” are involved.

However, recent research in this field has begun to shed light on mixed culture fermentation. Deep sequencing analyses have revealed that dozens of bacterial and yeast species are often involved. Similarly, comparative analyses of beverages produced with different mixed cultures by mass spectrometry and other analytical techniques demonstrate the vast and varied array of organoleptic compounds produced during fermentation and aging.

This Special Issue will include recent studies into the mysteries of mixed cultures used for fermentation and reviews of the current state of the art in the field. Work focused on beer, wine, kombucha, mead, cider, and/or other beverages is all of interest. If you would like to contribute a review manuscript, please contact me to discuss the relevance of the topic prior to submitting your manuscript.

Dr. Matthew L. Bochman
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Fermentation is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• mixed culture
• fermentation
• yeast
• bacteria
• spontaneous fermentation
• beer
• wine
• kombucha