Ethanol thresholds in water and beer

Abstract

Little information exists regarding ethanol thresholds or how thresholds change depending upon the matrix of evaluation. The objective of this experiment was to determine the detection threshold of ethanol in water and the just-noticeable difference (JND) thresholds for ethanol in water and beer. We also sought to determine whether ethanol thresholds correlate with frequency of ethanol consumption. The best estimate of threshold (BET) was determined for 75 subjects in water and/or beer using the ascending method of limits. In water, the group detection BET was 0.66 ± 0.08% with no significant difference between males and females. In water and beer containing 5% ethanol, the group JND BETs were 7.9 ± 1.1% and 11.0 ± 1.1%, respectively. The significant increase of ethanol thresholds in beer compared to water likely reflects the impact of the matrix on the sensory properties evoked by ethanol. No significant differences between males and females were found for ethanol JND thresholds in water, however, in beer, JND thresholds were significantly lower for males compared to females.Ethanol JND thresholds obtained in water and beer were not associated with self-reported frequency of alcohol consumption. Practical ApplicationsThe present study provides relevant details regarding the levels of ethanol that can be discriminated in water and beer. The sensory qualities of ethanol have been proposed to be the most consistent and relevant stimuli to immediately predict alcohol's postabsorptive effects. This implies that humans can accurately detect and discriminate between varying levels of ethanol. However, the present results suggest that the presence of other flavor compounds in a complex matrix such as beer makes discriminating ethanol levels difficult. K E Y W O R D Sbeer, ethyl alcohol, matrix effect, threshold