[Determination of the bitter taste of beers. Correlation between the spectrophotometric method and sensory...

The correlation existing between the chemical determination and the sensory evaluation of the bitter taste in beers was studied. Six different brands were analyzed in six series of repetitions during four months (March through July). For the chemical method, the determination of BU (Bitterness Units) was used. This corresponds to the absorbance of an isooctane extract at 275 nm, previously acidified with HCl. Regarding sensory evaluation, a panel of six highly trained judges (p less than 0.05) was formed for the detection of bitter taste. This test was carried out parallel to the former. The panelists used the descriptive test of bitter intensity in a range of 5. The correlation coefficients for each series of repetitions were calculated and later compared with the tabulated values, at the different levels of significance. A high degree of statistical significance was determined in three of the analyzed series, and significance at the 5% level for two of the series. The remaining one showed a low correlation and was non-significant, the dark beer (malt) being the one that presented an important deviation. It is therefore concluded that the spectrophotometric method can replace the sensory evaluation of bitter taste in pale beers, though it is not advisable for malts.