Beer flavors vary widely across styles, from barrel-aged stouts to Italian pilsners and Kriek lambics. Researchers tested 135 participants with 18 different lagers and identified two distinct consumer groups that reacted differently to specific chemical compounds. One group tended to prefer stronger flavors while the other favored mellower-tasting beers. The two groups often ranked the same lagers in opposite order. Insights about chemical drivers of preference could guide breweries developing new products, including non-alcoholic beers using non-traditional yeasts or rice. Further research into brain processing of flavor can expand these applications.
What does beer taste like? That depends on the beer. A barrel-aged stout isn't going to have a lot in common with an Italian pilsner, and neither of those will much resemble a Kriek lambic. Still, scientists are learning more and more about how the brain processes flavor with each passing year; we shouldn't be surprised that some of that research would focus on a certain type of fermented beverage.
According to findings presented this month at the fall meeting of the American Chemical Society, drinkers tend to fall into one of two categories based on the beer they prefer. As Jenna Ahart reports for Nature, scientists enlisted the help of 135 participants and had them try 18 different lagers; Ahart describes the two distinct groups that formed from the participants as "responding more than the other to certain chemical compounds."
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