We investigated yeast strains used in Cameroonian microbreweries, and identified a Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain (OCY3) with an excellent capacity for alcoholic fermentation. OCY3 showed higher tolerance to lactic acid and better fermentation performance under acidic conditions than a representative Japanese sake yeast, Kyokai No. 7, and a wine yeast, EC1118. (C) 2014, The Society for Biotechnology, Japan. All rights reserved.