Beer has been a popular beverage for thousands of years,and it is often described as the result of the oldest biotechnological
process. The flavor of the beer comprises taste (not
volatile compounds) and smell (volatile compounds). Beer
constituents comprise more than 800 compounds and many
of them contribute to its fl avor characteristics, such as bitterness, sweetness, acidity, hop character, carbonation, alcoholic and fruity or ester flavor. These flavor notes derive from volatile and not volatile chemical compound influence. Alcohols,esters, carbonylic compounds, phenols, terpenes, etc. are only some of chemical classes to which these compounds belong.
These compounds influence beer fl avor when their level is higher than the threshold value. However, synergic effects of more compounds are able to take a determinate compound to underline a determinate fl avor (taste or odor) even without that the same is over its threshold value. Besides the compounds
infl uencing positively the fl avor, there are others that,even though generally present in small concentrations, can give formation to off-flavor conditioning the general beer flavor. The importance of a particular compound as regards to its contribution
to beer fl avor is determined by its concentration, odor
and taste threshold values, and its interaction with other volatile
and non-volatile constituents.
