[Current knowledge on the organoleptic characteristics of beer]

This important subject will be considered in three parts: I. Tasting procedures. As there is no standard nomenclature in brewing for describing the organoleptic properties, each brewery has devised its own terminology for this purpose. Four organizations: the European Brewery Convention (EBC), the American Society of Brewing Chemists (ASBC), the Master Brewers Association of America (MBAA) and the Institute of Brewing have collaborated to produce a standard terminology for beer tasting suitable for international use. Different tasting procedures, as well as their statistical interpretation will be discussed. II. Threshold values of certain compounds. Several hundred compounds present in beer have been studied and their threshold values are known for certain types of beer. Particular methods of tasting have been tried out to determine precisely the threshold value of a pure compound in beer. III. Correlation between the tasting results and the physico-chemical properties of beer. The application of statistical methods of analysis to the testing results and physico-chemical properties of different beers has allowed the importance of certain constituants of these beers to be estimated.