N. Garneau (1), L. GUERDRUM (2);
(1) Denver Museum of Nature and Science, Denver, CO, U.S.A.; (2) New Belgium Brewing, Fort Collins, CO, U.S.A.
Technical Session 1 - Sensory
Sunday, June 14
10:15 a.m.–12:00 p.m.
Fiesta 3,4,6,8
Brewing sensory science has been plagued for decades with a need to standardize its flavor terminology. Despite growing support for standardization, the task has proven to be notoriously difficult, and one that unsurprisingly, due to the many challenges it poses, few have chosen to tackle. The most well-known effort toward this end was taken on by a working group composed of representatives from the American Society of Brewing Chemists (ASBC), the European Brewing Convention, and the Master Brewers Association of the Americas. Convened in the late 1970s, the group set out to create a universal system to communicate beer flavor that would be regularly assessed and updated by the ASBC. The outcome of this committee—the ASBC Flavor Wheel—was a huge step forward for the brewing industry. However, despite the call to action from the committee to the brewing industry, the wheel was not regularly updated as intended. And as of 2015, the ASBC Flavor Wheel remains in the same form as when it was first published, 36 years ago. While a model for flavor analysis remains a needed and sought-after tool, the data behind the ASBC Flavor Wheel is based on now outdated science, and in some cases is indisputably perpetuating false information. The presenters here propose a new model for beer flavor that learns from the successes of the ASBC Flavor Wheel, but is scientifically aligned with the sensory research of the last three decades, accounts for new complexities in brewing science, and is actionable by brewing professionals. The goal of this proposed beer flavor identification system is uniform use across the industry and the ability to be reevaluated regularly by the ASBC sensory sub-committee through input by brewing and sensory professionals as both language and research advance.
Lindsay Guerdrum received a B.S. degree in biochemistry and molecular biology from the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque and an M.S. degree in food science and technology from the University of California, Davis. While at UC Davis she focused on malting and brewing science under Charles Bamforth, working on gluten-free beer research. She began employment at New Belgium Brewing Company in 2011, where she is currently a sensory analyst. She has served on the ASBC Sensory Technical Subcommittee for three years as the Sensory Chair and Gluten-Measurement Subcommittee Chair.
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