Off-flavor exercise develops brewers’ skills

Certain off-flavors slap your taste buds, while others just nudge them. Some aromas were subtle, while others jerked your head back. Brewing technology students at a training in Charleston got a dose of 24 different flavors that can be problematic in beer. Learning to detect these flavors and knowing their causes is an important skill for commercial brewers to have.

Long-time Charleston-area homebrewer Rob Absten led the sensory exercise, which featured chemical compounds such as diacetyl, acetaldehyde, hydrogen sulfide, dimethyl sulfide, and mercaptan. Other flavors tasted were reminiscent of onion, stale grain, blue cheese, geranium flowers, spice, sewage, among other things. 

Many of the flavors tasted are undesirable at any level in beer. Several other ones are acceptable in low levels but not in high levels, while still others are okay in one style of beer but not in another style. Sensory trainings like this one helps brewers develop skill at distinguishing off-flavors from the hundreds of flavors that can appear in beer.

The sensory training was organized by Chris Godwin, who teaches in the Brewing Technology program at Bridge Valley Community and Technical College. The training was based on a kit of flavors from BrewEssence. Each flavor compound was diluted in a neutral beer and then tasted side-by-side with the original un-spiked beer. In addition to brewing students, attendees included brewery staff and craft beer consumers.

Above photos by Lynette Stewart and Chris Godwin.