Sensory lexicon and aroma volatiles analysis of brewing malt

Abstract

Malt is an important raw material in brewing beer. With the increasing development of craft beer, brewing malt has contributed diverse colours and abundant flavours to beer. While "malty" and "worty" were commonly used to describe the malt flavour of beer, they are still inadequate. This study focused on developing of a sensory lexicon and a sensory wheel for brewing malt. Here, a total of 22 samples were used for sensory evaluation. The panels identified 53 attributes to form the lexicon of brewing malt, including appearance, flavour, taste, and mouthfeel. After consulting with the experts from the brewing industry, 46 attributes were selected from the lexicon list to construct the sensory wheel. Based on the lexicon, rate-all-that-apply analysis was used to discriminate between six sampl