'How Dark It Is': Comparing Methods for Darkening Beer Without Flavor Change

摘要

As with all foods, beer’s appearance, and particularly its color, plays an important role on how the product is perceived. Throughout brewing, brewers make adjustments to beer to ensure that the color of the final product meets the specification. This is commonly achieved by the addition of highly kilned or roasted malts during brewing or the use of a range of malt syrups made from various roasted malts. Both techniques ideally produce the desired color change without affecting flavor. In the current research these methods, using a black malted wheat product and Sinamar malt extract, were compared by using chemical and sensory analyses. These methods showed that, for darkening, either method could be used without creating significant flavor changes. Because it is a newer ingredient, an additional study was carried out to determine if varying levels of Sinamar malt extract would affect the beer’s flavor profile. Again, no statistically significant differences in chemical or sensory properties were observed. Therefore, either method may be used to successfully adjust beer color with minimal effect on a beer’s flavor profile.