Chemical characterization of aromas in beer and their effect on consumers liking

Identification of volatiles in beer is important for consumers acceptability. In this study, triplicates of 24 beers from three types of fermentation (top/bottom/spontaneous) were analyzed using Gas Chromatograph with Mass-Selective Detector (GC-MSD) employing solid-phase microextraction (SPME). Principal components analysis was conducted for each type of fermentation. Multiple regression analysis, and an artificial neutral network model (ANN) were developed with the peak-areas of 10 volatiles to evaluate/predict aroma, flavor and overall liking. There were no hops-derived volatiles in bottom-fermentation beers, but they were present in top and spontaneous. Top and spontaneous had more volatiles than bottom-fermentation. 4-Ethyguaiacol and trans-β-ionone were positive towards aroma, flavor and overall liking. Styrene had a negative effect on aroma, flavor and overall liking. An ANN model with high accuracy (R = 0.98) was obtained to predict aroma, flavor and overall liking. The use of SPME-GC-MSD is an effective method to detect volatiles in beers that contribute to acceptability.