Sensory Session
Eric J Allain, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC, USA
Co-author(s): Ben Hogue, Seth Cohen, Brett Taubman, and Shea Tuberty, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC, USA
ABSTRACT: The importance of an appropriate level of
carbonation to the sensory perception of beer is well known. Carbonation
can be produced in beer naturally where dissolved carbon dioxide is
produced by yeast or artificially in which external carbon dioxide gas
is applied to the beer at a pressure sufficient to achieve the desired
level of dissolved carbon dioxide. While both methods can be used to
achieve a beer with identical dissolved carbon dioxide concentration,
some claim that natural carbonation produces a beer that is perceptibly
different than an artificially carbonated beer. We investigated this
claim by brewing a number of batches of beer in which, after
fermentation, half of the beer was artificially carbonated while the
other half was naturally carbonated to the same level of dissolved
carbon dioxide. Sensory evaluation and difference testing was performed
using a triangle test to determine the ability of tasters to
discriminate between artificially carbonated and naturally carbonated
beer samples. A possible cause for any sensory difference between
naturally carbonated and artificially carbonated beer could arise during
the fermentation process that occurs during natural carbonation. This
possibility was investigated by analyzing the beers using gas
chromatography/mass spectrometry to identify any differences between
naturally and artificially carbonated beers.
Eric Allain
graduated from Illinois Benedictine College with a B.S. degree in
biochemistry in 1990. Eric attended graduate school at the University of
Illinois in Champaign-Urbana, where he received a Ph.D. degree in
biochemistry in 1997. His thesis work involved development of an
enzymatic synthesis scheme for compounds important to the pharmaceutical
industry. From 1997 through 1999, Eric worked for Nalco Chemical
Company, where he studied and developed enzyme applications for water
treatment. In 1999 he joined Novozymes, where he worked to develop new
enzymes for the fuel alcohol industry. Significant accomplishments
include the development of lab-scale methods to study enzyme behavior in
fuel alcohol fermentations, development of engineered enzymes that are
up to 10 times more efficient in the breakdown of starch, and
development of a mathematical model describing how systems of enzymes
work together to catalyze the conversion of starch to glucose. In 2005
Eric joined the faculty of Appalachian State University as a professor
of biochemistry. Here, he is part of a growing team focusing on brewing
and fermentation science research. Eric also serves as a board member
for The Ivory Tower Brewery, a full-scale education- and research-based
brewery at Appalachian State University in Boone, NC.
