Comparison of Temporal–Sensory Methods for Beer Flavor Evaluation

Abstract

Different studies that determine the evolution of single sensory attributes in beer have been conducted during recent years. Although results of these works are valuable, brewers need to know which technique is the most appropriate for obtaining a real‐time flavor profile of their products. Three different techniques that consider the evolution of flavors were used in the present study: time intensity (TI), temporal dominance of sensations (TDS) and drinking profile (DP). Four main flavor attributes of three commercial beers were evaluated to determine the main differences in the obtained results. TI technique provided useful information to study the kinetics of particular attributes, and showed the main differences in the beer profiles. However, TI proved very time consuming, and because of the differences in the panelists' “signatures,” data were difficult to process. TDS and DP provided useful information when used as complementary techniques, but DP was also very time consuming. Practical Applications Results of the present study provide essential information to brewers, who try to carefully select the best raw materials for making a beer with a specific flavor intensity and length. Some of the most important attributes in beer flavor were studied in different beer styles, providing: (1) a model of the “real‐time” drinking flavor profile that customers are experiencing; and (2) useful information about the utility of three different sensory methods.

Sensory Profile of Italian Craft Beers, Beer Taster Expert versus Sensory Methods: A Comparative Study

“…Panelists were trained to the TDS testing protocol through FIZZ Software (Biosystemes, Couternon, France). Each evaluation session lasted 90 seconds [10]. Panelists were asked to start the evaluation immediately after taking the sample (10 ml) in their mouth.…”

“…QDA is a complete sensory description, taking into account all sensations that are perceived (visual, tactile, olfactory, and gustatory) when the product is evaluated [8]. TDS, as a descriptive multi-attribute methodology, which deals with attribute interactions [9], allows the description of the overall product perception over time giving a real-time flavor profile [10]. TDS provides supplementary temporal information, perceived during the drinking process, on qualitative changes that are not measurable with the conventional sensory profile; moreover this method is less time consuming than other dynamic ones [7].…”

Techniques in sensory analysis of flavour

“…The TDS method determined that some lagers had more dominant estery flavour initially followed by more hoppy and bitter notes, whilst others were more dominant in hoppy initially followed by bitter and hoppy. The DP method gave similar intensity information to descriptive profiling, but in this study the attribute changes over five successive sips were not significant (Vazquez-Araujo et al, 2013). This DP method did not require the assessors to score at set time points as has been used successfully implemented in the sequential method (Methven et al, 2010); it therefore appears that standardisation of this type of method would be useful for future researchers.…”

“…The authors concluded that both methods were relevant; QDA intensities did not predict the dominance of sensations, however, TDS alone could not be used to evaluate all attributes and less dominant attributes were still found to be important in product differentiation. A recent study of beer flavour used TI, TDS and drinking profile (DP), which was the same as sequential profiling (Vazquez-Araujo et al, 2013). This study concluded that although TI gave the best kinetic data and was able to show the main differences in the beer profile, it was the most time consuming and most difficult in terms of data processing.…”

Application of two sensory methods to investigate the impact of heating on the flavor perception of a French blue cheese

“…The term “Dominant” is defined as the characteristic which attracts the most attention, but is not necessarily the most intense (Labbe, Schlich, Pineau, Gilbert, & Martin, ). The TDS method has been used to describe the temporal perception over time of olive oil, water, wine, fruit, fish sticks, candies, dairy desserts, gels, and beer (Di Monaco, Galiñanes Plaza, Miele, Picone, & Cavella, ; Dinnella, Masi, Zoboli, & Monteleone, ; Meillon, Urbano, & Schlich, ; Morais, Pinheiro, Nunes, & Bolini, ; Paulsen, Næs, Ueland, Rukke, & Hersleth, ; Vázquez‐Araújo, Parker, & Woods, ). More specifically, the TDS method has also been used to describe the flavor of raw cheeses (unheated cheeses) or their texture (Bemfeito, Rodrigues, Silva, & Abreu, ; Ferreira Rodrigues, Rios de Souza, Ribeiro Lima, Gomes da Cruz, & Marques Pinheiro, ; Rodrigues, Gonçalves, Pereira, Carneiro, & Pinheiro, ).…”