Development of gluten-free craft beer: Impact of brewing process on quality attributes and consumer expectations for sensory properties.

Cela N, Galgano F, Di Cairano M, Condelli N, Scarpa T, Marconi O, Alfeo V, Perretti G

Published: 25 October 2023 in Journal of food science
Keywords: craft beer, gluten-free beer
Pubmed ID: 37876285
DOI: 10.1111/1750-3841.16786

To date, few studies investigated the differences between the two main gluten-free (GF) brewing techniques, such as the use of enzymes and the use of unconventional GF grains in brewing, by consumer perspective. In this study a GF beer brewed with sorghum and quinoa, as brewing adjuncts, was compared to the enzymatic-treated counterpart, in order to evaluate the effect of deglutinization treatment on physicochemical, volatile, and sensory characteristics of final beer. Moreover, the influence of brewing process and raw materials information on consumers' sensory perceptions, willingness to buy (WTB) and willingness to pay (WTP) was also investigated (n = 105 consumers), under blind (B), expected (E), and informed (I) conditions. The enzymatic-treated sample showed comparable physicochemical attributes with the untreated counterpart, except for a significant reduction in color and foam stability (p  0.05). The information about the deglutinization treatment had a negative impact on overall liking (p