Sensory Session
Hiroko Kanauchi, Miyagi University, Taihaku-ku Sendai Miyagi Japan
Co-author(s): Makoto Kanauchi, Yoshie Abe, and Akira Morita, Miyagi University, Sendai, Japan; Charles Bamforth, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, USA
ABSTRACT: The consumption of beer has decreased since 1994 in Japan for several reasons. One is that low malt beer is less expensive than conventionally consumed beer. Furthermore, alcoholic beverages other than beer are consumed by Japanese people in their 20s, who apparently dislike the bitter beer taste. A questionnaire and sensory evaluation of a model product were conducted with 83 panelists. Panelists in each group were asked to discriminate a bitter taste either of a bitter solution in caffeine or deionized water. The model beers were prepared using a non-alcohol beer-like beverage with added hop oil and lactic acid. The evaluation was conducted using a five-point rating scale method. Results show that the panelists could be grouped in six groups according to their like or dislike of beer, beer drinking frequency, etc. According to the sensory evaluation, the group liking beer tended not to discriminate bitter taste in solution, but the group disliking beer tended to discriminate the taste in the solution. Bitter taste is an important factor for the evaluation in the group drinking more than 350 mL of beer per week. However, in the group drinking less than 350 mL of beer per week, sweet taste is an important factor. Panelists who frequently drink beer were insensitive to bitterness, but bitter taste was the most important factor for beer taste. Furthermore, the panelists infrequently drinking beer were sensitive to bitterness, and sweet taste was an important factor for them.
Hiroko Kamiya-Kanauchi graduated from Chuo University in 1995 (bachelor of law) and from the Tokyo University of Agriculture in 1998 (bachelor of brewing science). She received an M.A. degree from the Tokyo University of Agriculture in 1998. Her master’s thesis examined alcoholic beverage taste, especially bitter phenols in wine. Subsequently, she was employed at Ito-Yokado, a supermarket chain store in Japan (2000–2005) as a buyer and distributor. She merchandised alcoholic beverages for about 180 stores. Since 2008, she has been at the Department of Food Management, Miyagi University, studying career development.
