Beer Flavor Database Summary
This database is the culmination of countless hours of research and comprises a total of 589 chemical names. The overall purpose of this project was to create a flavor database for the brewing industry to use for sensory science and sensory labs. For example, if there is a strong aroma or flavor in beer, a search can be completed to find the chemical names responsible for the aroma. Sensory labs can use the database to compare panel thresholds to cited values or to create a vocabulary of commonly used flavor descriptors in beer.
This is an example of the compound dimethyl sulfide, one of the most important chemical names in beer.
The database shows, in order from left to right:
The format of the database can be seen in the sample below:
This is an example of the compound dimethyl sulfide, one of the most important chemical names in beer.
The database shows, in order from left to right:
- Chemical Name - the most often cited in brewing literature
- Synonyms - other common names found
- Chemical Formula - e.g., C2H6S
- Molecular Weight - grams/mol
- Flavor Descriptors - these descriptors are derived from what sensory scientists have encountered in gas chromatograph-olfactormetry work and are indications of how the compounds are percieved by multipl analysts
- Concentration Minimum, Maximum, and Mean - milligrams/liter found in beer
- Threshold (TH) 1,2,3 - milligrams/liter found in beer � if a compound contains more than three published thresholds, a new row has been created to keep the width of the Excel file to a minimum. Most chemical names will contain between one and three thresholds.
- Threshold (TH) Water - milligrams/liter
- Formation/Description - this column contains additional information as to how the compound is created, where it is derived from, and/or any other relevant information
- Compound Classification - the type of compound, whether it be an ester, alcohol, monoterpene, sesquiterpene, acid, phenol, sulfur compound, or other
- References - one can find the sources in the other tab of the database
- CAS Number - identification of the molecule by the Chemical Abstract Service, a registered trademark of the American Chemical Society
Key:
Conc. = Concentration
TH = Threshold
FU = Flavor Unit
NIF = not in file
This flavor database is able to be downloaded as either an Adobe Reader or Excel file. By using the "Sort" and "Find" functions in Excel, the database can be customized by each user.
Two important points that need to be reiterated are that the flavor descriptors are derived from olfactometry work and therefore are descriptions of single molecules. The second point that needs to be emphasized is that concentrations are in beer. The type of beer varied, with most being international lager beers.