kbrighton

The reason no one has done it in decades is because it really isn't practical anymore. There are people sitting in labs all over the world doing this for us. As valuable as time is these days, if you have a way to make your life easier, you do it. It would also take a lot of time and raw material to find a strain that met your needs, then isolate it and grow it. We have access to hundreds of strains of yeast, all with different properties. How much and which esters they produce, working temperature range, alcohol tolerance, etc. I currently have 7 different yeasts on hand, for the 25 different products we produce. An advantage the big 3 you mentioned have that most don't is that they only make 1 product. They can keep a jug yeast going because they are doing the same process day in and day out. I ferment corn, barley, molasses, apple juice, grape juice, and fruit juices. Having a continuous batch of jug yeast just wouldn't fit into our operation.