P-09 - Sensomics – Make Beer Aroma Great Again!

In recent years, many different beer types with various aroma impressions have been developed, which vary due to different brewing parameters and ingredients such as special malts as well as the use of new hop varieties. In Germany, diversification is a particular issue, because, we have the “Reinheitsgebot” (Purity Law) of 1516. This allows only the use of barley, hops, and water for beer production. However, In the future, the brewing industry will face the challenges of changing consumer preferences and the effects of climate change, which could affect the availability of raw materials. To meet consumer expectations in terms of aroma, our aim has been to apply Sensomics, i.e., product analysis and optimization focused on aroma-active compounds, using methods combining state-of-the-art instrumentation with sensory verification, particularly gas chromatography-olfactometry, aroma reconstitution, omission, and spiking experiments. First Sensomics projects of our group conducted in the field of brewing science targeted at basic hop odorants and their influence on beer aroma. We showed that when combining tradtional hop varieties with traditional late hopping, linalool is the key compound in hoppy beer aroma. Later, we learned that the situation changes with novel flavor hop varieties and dry hopping. We identified 4MMP as a key odorant in many craft beers and showed that, besides the hop variety, particularly the storage conditions vitally impact the fate of this aroma compound in beer. In another study, we demonstrated that conventional malt has only a minor contribution to beer aroma, while the use of specialty malts and the brewing process itself substantially impact the aroma of the final product. Numerous further research projects confirmed the Sensomics concept as an effective tool for accurately determining and evaluating the influence of raw materials and brewing technologies on beer aroma. Sensomics will continue to serve brewers to adapt to future challenges and ensure the quality of our beer.