Temporal Dominance of Sensations paired with dynamic wanting in an ad libitum setting: A new method of sensory evaluation with consumers for a better understanding of beer drinkability

While drinkability is of paramount importance when discussing beer, there is no established methodology to assess it. The main objective of the present study was to develop a new method of sensory evaluation with consumers to obtain a better understanding of beer drinkability. With the aim of being practically and effectively used in a wide range of consumer tests in an ad libitum consumption setting, a new method called the “Multiple-sip Drinkability Test” was developed to evaluate beer drinkability defined as “the will of drinking”. The method is based on Temporal Dominance of Sensations (TDS) paired with dynamic wanting.This paper presents the test designs and the results from two studies of four commercial Japanese beers, one conducted with an expert sensory panel and the other with a naïve panel of consumers. The results revealed the importance of monitoring dynamic wanting over sips. In both studies, product differences in wanting, almost nonexistent at the beginning, gradually became larger.These studies also elicited the characteristics of beer with high drinkability. The product that attained the highest wanting scores in both studies was perceived as having less of a standout flavor, thereby producing fewer build-up effects on sensory perceptions, which suggests that the greater the sensory load produced by a beer, the less one wants to drink it continuously. This methodology should be used with different types of beers and consumers to obtain a broader understanding of the sensory drivers of beer drinkability and consumer satisfaction.