Craft beer vs industrial beer: chemical and sensory differences

Abstract

Purpose The aim of this paper is to determine chemical and sensory differences of between craft and industrial/or commercial beers. Beer market is nowadays booming and consumers are in the search of new and healthier products. Design/smethodology/approach Here, commercial and craft beers were chemically analyzed and sensory evaluated. Chemical analysis included pH, bitterness, color, total polyphenol content and antioxidant activity. Likewise, 40 sensory descriptors were evaluated by trained panelists, including visual, olfactory and gustatory attributes. In addition, an electronic nose (e-nose) was tested to determine its suitability to discriminate beer type and/or style according to their volatiles profile. Findings Craft beers presented higher values of color, bitterness and antioxidant activity when compared to commercial beers. Sensory descriptors showed craft beers to be associated with the highest scores in visual, olfactory and gustatory descriptors. Data from e-nose explained 97% of the total variability of the volatile compounds in the analyzed beers, indicating the suitability of this device to discriminate beer types. Originality/value Results are of interest for design of marketing and selling techniques for craft brewery managers. In addition, cheap and easy-managing device as e-nose resulted in a valuable tool to monitoring beer quality.