Influence of beer ethanol content on the wort flavour perception

The sensorial threshold value of 3-methylthiopropionaldehyde appears to be influenced by the beer matrix. We have shown that, in typical lager beers, ethanol significantly increases aldehyde retention, leading to lower percep tion of the worty character. In alcohol-free beers, both the absence of eth anol and the higher level of mono- and disaccharides such as maltose intens ify such off-flavours. As improving Strecker aldehyde reduction by yeast se ems difficult for alcohol-free beer production without using genetically mo dified yeasts or adding steps in the process, another interesting approach could be to add "ethanol-mimics" to increase off-flavour thresholds, (C) 20 00 Elsevier Science Ltd. Al rights reserved.