Page 50 - Beverage Master February March 2020
P. 50
Craft Ag Production
will biotransform geraniol (a bed of roses) into success, but not all commercial brewers have the
β-citronellol (zesty lemon), completely changing the luxury of committing precious resources to pilot
aroma characteristics of the beer. So, it’s not only brews in order to find them. Beer sensory scientists
necessary to apply sensory to hop aroma, it’s vital can glean important information from brewing the
to also focus on the aroma compounds present exact same beer multiple times, tweaking only sin-
in the end product – the beer brewed with these gle aspects (like hop variety, hop addition timing, or
hops, to fully understand which hop characteristics storage conditions). The results of sensory analysis
are of the greatest importance to brewers. on these experiments can be passed to brewers,
saving them time and capital, and optimizing the
To complicate matters further, brewing com- quality of their outputs.
ponents like malt and yeast contribute to flavor
in varying degrees depending on the beer style, The results of beer sensory studies also help brew-
and hops contribute non-aroma characteristics to ers by guiding hop blend development to meet
beer such as bitterness, mouthfeel, and haze, all specific market demands. For example, an additive
of which are important to monitor and assess in effect has been found to exist whereby the coexis-
order to fully understand a hop’s full contribution tence of linalool, geraniol, and β-citronellol creates
to beer. a strong flavor impression of lime - crucial informa-
tion in a time where citrus flavors in beer are fer-
Benefit to Growers vidly sought, making access to hop products devel-
oped using this information incredibly valuable.
Hop growers are beginning to identify the specific
genes responsible for producing certain flavor com- To put it simply, brewers just want to make good
pounds and can use beer sensory data to zero in on beer that people like, and sensory assessment
the ones that actually make it into the final prod- is one weapon in the arsenal that can be used
uct. Beer sensory assessment acts as a helpful stage towards that goal.
in filtering through the thousands of experimental
varieties that breeders develop to determine the The Circle of Sensory
lucky few that will be planted on a large scale and
eventually released to the public. The whole pro- Hops growers, brewers, and the beer market are
cess of new varietal development takes upwards linked in a never-ending feedback cycle. Growers
of 12 years, with only one in every 10,000 new hop develop and produce a hop variety, brewers use
varieties ever making it to market. This lengthy, it to make the best beer they can, and the market
arduous, and resource heavy process relies on lets us know what they think with their dollars.
sound assurances that beer drinkers will embrace That information gets passed back to growers, who
a new hop, in turn giving brewers a reason to wel- can adjust according to what the people want.
come it onto their brewing schedule.
And the stitches linking this whole process togeth-
At the other end, when growers wish to tweak er? You guessed it. Beer sensory.
production to increase efficiency, beer sensory can
make sure that any changes have not negatively Written by Tessa Schilaty, Sensory Coordinator at
impacted sensory attributes of the final product. Yakima Chief Hops
From optimizing harvest windows to dialing in the
perfect kiln temperature, growers use beer sensory At Yakima Chief Hops, we have invested in a
feedback to guide the decision-making process. robust hop and beer sensory program, dedicating
time and resources to gathering this valuable infor-
Benefit to Brewers mation in-house that we then share with our indus-
try partners. Trained YCH staff members from all
Brewers ask a lot of questions. How do I get my areas of the company meet regularly to taste, sniff
beer to taste like starfruit? When in the process and evaluate various beers and hop varieties with
should I add hops to achieve a perfect balance the guidance of our own Technical and Brewing
between fruity and bitter? How will dry-hopped Innovations teams. Drinking beer is a tough job, but
beer behave over time in different storage condi- our employees are happy to take one for the team!
tions? Answers to such questions are critical for
48 February - March 2020 BEVERAGE MASTER
BM120120 Main Pages .indd 48 1/28/20 11:07 AM
