Development and Validation of a Consumer-Oriented Sensory Evaluation Scale for Pale Lager Beer

Area of Science:

• Food Science
• Consumer Behavior
• Sensory Analysis

Background:

• Pale lager is the dominant global beer, but consumer preferences are evolving.
• Understanding sensory priorities is crucial for breweries amid changing consumer expectations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate consumer sensory priorities for pale lager in China.
• To quantify the importance of sensory attributes in pale lager choice.
• To develop and validate a new sensory evaluation scale aligned with consumer preferences.

Main Methods:

• A 28-item questionnaire distributed to 1837 Chinese consumers.
• Statistical analyses including Spearman correlation and partial least-squares regressions.
• Hybrid analytic hierarchy process-entropy weight method-Delphi procedure for attribute importance quantification.

Main Results:

• Drinking sensation (30.92%) was the primary driver of pale lager choice, followed by taste (26.60%), aroma (24.77%), and appearance (17.71%).
• Educational background and spending willingness were key determinants of sensory priorities.
• Sensory evaluation patterns varied across different drinking frequency groups.
• A newly developed sensory scale demonstrated superior alignment with consumer preferences (ρ = 0.800; τ = 0.667) compared to traditional scales.

Conclusions:

• Consumer preferences for pale lager are flavor-led and experience-oriented.
• Actionable metrics and decision tools can be derived for breweries in product development and marketing.
• The new sensory evaluation scale offers improved accuracy in reflecting consumer preferences.