Building a Sensory Program: A Brewer’s Guide to Beer Evaluation

Human flavor perception is incredibly complex and impacts daily decision making in the brewery. No amount of elaborate equipment can replace the value of the human tasting experience and a sensory program can offer a powerful quality check on both your outgoing beer and beermaking process. Building a Sensory Program will discuss sensory systems, sources of bias, tasting techniques, required equipment, taster training, and panel maintenance. Learn about different testing methods, data use, and how to use sensory to respond to consumer complaints, set shelf life, adjust recipes, design new brands, and blend barrel-aged beer.

There is much that a small brewery can do to improve the quality and consistency of their beer using resources already at their disposal. A thoughtful, well-designed sensory program is an essential component of brewery quality control, helping to ensure beer tastes the way it was designed, time after time. The commitment to high-quality standards set during development can help prevent flavor drift or even a costly recall. Building a Sensory Program will provide the reader with a bedrock for an intelligently designed brewery sensory program.

Based in Chicago, Pat Fahey works for the Cicerone® Certification Program managing exam content, developing educational material, and administering training around the world. Pat also regularly speaks at conferences, judges at the Great American Beer Festival®, and contributes as a member of the Beer & Food Working Group. In May of 2013, he became the youngest person to ever pass the Master Cicerone® exam, and today is one of 19 Master Cicerones in the world.