Beer "spent grains" turning into meat? A new idea to make cultured meat cheaper, "from pint to plate"

"Growing Meat from Beer Waste"—The Next Reality of Cultured Meat as Indicated by "From Pint to Plate"

Beer and burgers. They should be the perfect combination—now, they are about to form a "more direct relationship" in a laboratory. A research team from University College London (UCL) in the UK has reported a new method of creating a "scaffold" for growing cultured meat (also known as lab-grown meat) from "brewer's spent yeast," a byproduct left after beer brewing. The concept is "From pint to plate"—an idea to transform the byproducts behind a pint of beer into the materials for future meat. Phys.org

The "scaling wall" of cultured meat lies in the "scaffold" rather than the meat itself

Cultured meat is a technology that creates meat by culturing animal cells. However, simply multiplying cells is not enough to achieve the actual "meat-like" quality. An "edible scaffold" is needed for cells to adhere, proliferate, and organize three-dimensionally. This scaffold often becomes a bottleneck in terms of cost and texture.

The UCL study, published in Frontiers in Nutrition, proposes using "bacterial cellulose" for this scaffold. Cellulose is a durable material that forms the cell walls of plants, and some microorganisms produce cellulose as a protective layer. It is known as an "edible structural material" used in foods like the Filipino dessert "nata de coco." Phys.org

Key to the Research: "Producing Cellulose Using Waste Yeast as a Medium"

The focus this time is not so much on the novelty of cellulose itself, but on "how to produce it cheaply and in large quantities."

The research team collected spent yeast from a craft brewery in Surrey (Big Smoke Brewing Company) and used it as a "material" to culture the bacterium Komagataeibacter xylinus, known for producing high-quality cellulose. In other words, instead of using a dedicated culture medium (nutrient solution) to grow the bacteria, they aimed to substitute it with beer brewing waste. Phys.org

As a result, the cellulose produced using waste showed "comparable quality" and even tended to have mechanical properties "closer to the texture of natural meat products" than standard cellulose. The study used a "chewing machine" to repeatedly compress and measure hardness, chewiness, and adhesiveness, showing that the cellulose from waste was less hard and chewy than standard cellulose, indicating a closer resemblance to meat. Phys.org

"Cell Attachment" is the First Hurdle—Fibroblast Attachment Confirmed

The importance of scaffold material is not just about texture. If cells cannot attach and proliferate on the scaffold, the process cannot begin.

In this study, animal cells (one type of cell found in meat, fibroblasts) were placed on the waste-derived cellulose scaffold, and "attachment was confirmed." This suggests the potential for it to "function as a scaffold for cultured meat." However, the researchers emphasize that this is still an early stage and further validation is needed. Phys.org

The next steps include incorporating cell types that determine more "meat-like" characteristics, such as fat and muscle cells, and evaluating how differences in raw materials affect cellulose yield and quality, given that the properties of spent yeast vary with different types of beer. Phys.org

If Successful, It Could Become a "Circular Economy of Food Tech"

What makes "From pint to plate" interesting is that it tackles the challenges of cultured meat (cost, texture, scale) by utilizing byproducts from another industry (beer brewing).

While cultured meat is often described as "clean" and "sustainable," the materials and processes required for production are said to be expensive and complex, making it difficult to reduce mass production costs. If cheap raw materials that are already being produced in large quantities can be introduced, it would theoretically be quite strong. Researchers also note that brewing waste is often discarded but could have valuable applications. Phys.org

However, there are many real-world hurdles (this is the real test)

From here on, the journey continues from "success in the laboratory" to "success as food," with walls of a different nature.

• Regulation and Safety: To distribute as food, safety, quality control, and traceability are essential.

• Reproducibility in Mass Production: Waste has large batch differences. If the components of byproducts change with the type of beer and production conditions, the properties of cellulose may also vary. The research team's plan to test "spent yeast from different beers" likely reflects a strong awareness of this point. Phys.org

• Consumer Acceptance: Cultured meat cannot win on technical rationality alone. There are emotional hurdles like "looks delicious," "not gross," and "acceptable price."

This is why the current research is interesting. The attempt to approach the ultimate question of cultured meat—"the reality when put in the mouth"—from the foundation of texture (scaffold) holds more significance than just a cost reduction proposal.

Reactions on Social Media (Visible "Raw" Voices and Trends)

At least at the time of posting, the comment section on the Phys.org page for this article is inactive (showing 0 comments), but the link has been shared in investment and food tech context communities, with brief reactions emerging. Phys.org

1) "Cheap Raw Materials are Justice" Group

On Reddit, there are straightforwardly positive comments about the use of brewing byproducts.

“I don’t think anything could get much cheaper than a byproduct of the brewing industry, good news”
(There’s hardly anything cheaper than a byproduct of the brewing industry. Good news.) Reddit

Those who understand that the biggest weakness of cultured meat is "cost" are more likely to have high expectations for ideas like "recycling waste from existing industries."

2) "Just Post the Link" Group (Indicating the Start of Information Circulation)

In the same thread, there are exchanges about organizing the format of information sharing, such as "repost as a link." Reddit
This atmosphere is closer to the "initial sprouting" rather than a topic that has caught fire.

3) (Supplementary) Observable Social Media Posts are Limited

There is evidence of official posts from Phys.org on Threads, but since the content could not be sufficiently confirmed from outside, it was excluded from the citation targets in this article (written based only on visible ranges). Threads

Summary: Beer Byproducts Simultaneously Shake the "Texture" and "Cost" of Cultured Meat

This study is not so much a "breakthrough in cultured meat itself" as it is an approach to replace the "peripheral components (scaffold)" that stand in the way of mass production and commercialization with real industrial waste.

At the laboratory scale, waste-derived cellulose has shown properties close to natural meat in terms of texture, and cell attachment has been confirmed. The next questions are whether it can achieve a "truly meat-like chew" in composite tissues including fat and muscle, and whether the quality can be standardized with "variable raw materials" like waste. Phys.org

Is the day when "From pint to plate" truly comes to our tables near? At the very least, the future of cultured meat is beginning to connect with the supply chain of existing industries, not just a "story within the laboratory"—a sufficiently stimulating signal.