One of the key processes in making beer is fermentation. In the fermentation process, brewer's yeast plays an essential role in both the production of ethanol and the flavor profile of beer. Therefore, the mechanism of ethanol fermentation by of brewer's yeast is attracting much attention. The high ethanol productivity of sake yeast has provided a good basis from which to investigate the factors that regulate the fermentation rates of brewer's yeast. Recent studies found that the elevated fermentation rate of sake Saccharomyces cerevisiae species is closely related to a defective transition from vegetative growth to the quiescent (G(0)) state. In the present study, to clarify the relationship between the fermentation rate of brewer's yeast and entry into G(0), we constructed two types of mutant of the bottom-fermenting brewer's yeast Saccharomyces pastorianus Weihenstephan 34/70: a RIM15 gene disruptant that was defective in entry into G(0); and a CLN3 Delta PEST mutant, in which the G(1) cyclin Cln3p accumulated at high levels. Both strains exhibited higher fermentation rates under high-maltose medium or high-gravity wort conditions (20 degrees Plato) as compared with the wild-type strain. Furthermore, G(1) arrest and/or G(0) entry were defective in both the RIM15 disruptant and the CLN3 Delta PEST mutant as compared with the wild-type strain. Taken together, these results indicate that regulation of the G(0)/G(1) transition might govern the fermentation rate of bottom-fermenting brewer's yeast in high-gravity wort. (C) 2016, The Society for Biotechnology, Japan. All rights reserved.