BACKGROUND
Bitter flavors and antioxidant activities are critical characteristics and indicators, respectively, of beer quality. To gain a better understanding of dry‐hopped beer's bitterness, this work comprehensively evaluated the perceived bitterness intensity and bitterness attributes from aspects of beer aroma and non‐volatile bitter compounds using sensory analysis under two conditions: (i) with and (ii) without nose clips. To quantify bitter and volatile compounds, the work conducted chromatographic analyses: high‐performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), ultra‐performance liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (UPLC‐MS) and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC‐MS). Simultaneously, this work assessed the antioxidant activity of commercially dry‐hopped beers.
RESULTS
First, dry‐hopped beer in this study contained abundant non‐volatile bitter compounds (hop bitter acids, polyphenols and flavonoids), and aroma was validated using HPLC, UPLC‐MS and GC‐MS methods. Moreover, the bitter‐tasting perception test findings demonstrated that many dry‐hopped beers had a higher bitterness intensity when evaluated without a nose clip, whereas this phenomenon was adverse in several ale beers. Additionally, the ‘lingering’ and ‘harsh’ characteristics were diminished when beer aroma was blocked out (with nose clip) for dry‐hopped beer. Meanwhile, most dry‐hopped beers had greater antioxidant activity than ale beers (P < 0.05).
CONCLUSION
This work revealed the bitterness complexity of dry‐hopped beer; besides non‐volatile bitter compounds, beer aroma had an impact on the perceived bitterness intensity and attributes, and dry‐hopped beer had a relatively intense antioxidant capacity. This study facilitated the development of a detailed knowledge about the assessment of bitter‐tasting perceptions in dry‐hopped beers and provided a basis for the development of functional beer benefiting human health. © 2022 Society of Chemical Industry.