Beer lovers fall into two flavour camps — which one are you in?

Washington DC

Malty, hoppy or fruit-forward? Just as beers come in different flavours, so do beer enthusiasts. That’s according to researchers who found that beer drinkers tasting a series of lagers fall into two distinct categories: those who prefer strong flavour chemicals and those who prefer mellow ones.

The team reported its findings on 18 August at the American Chemical Society meeting in Washington DC.

How we taste sweetness: long-sought structure of human receptor mapped at last

When taste-testing a new beer, researchers tend to rely on trained panelists who can pick out citrus or floral notes in the same way a sommelier can with wine. Devin Peterson, a food scientist at the Ohio State University in Columbus, wanted to go beyond the professionals, to learn what the average beer enthusiast is drawn to, for a better “understanding of what’s driving consumer behaviour”, he told Nature.

So he and his colleagues tasked about 135 self-proclaimed beer enthusiasts with trying 18 different lagers across 3 tasting sessions and rating them. To level the playing field, the team ensured that the competing beers contained similar percentages of alcohol and had somewhat similar levels of bitterness. Participants evaluated characteristics such as the beers’ sweetness and aroma intensity, and the researchers used mass spectrometry to determine each beer’s predominant flavour chemicals.

The tasters split into two factions on the basis of their beer rankings, the team found. For the group that preferred stronger flavours, brands such as Samuel Adams and Brooklyn were at the top of the list, and Budweiser was near the bottom. Those who enjoyed a mellower-tasting beer placed the same brands in nearly opposite spots. The two groups are “polar opposites in how they’re responding to the product”, Peterson said during the presentation.