The usage of a reflectometric method for 5-(hydroxymethyl)furan-2-carbaldehyde determination as a stale flavor sensor for beer

A rapid, mobile and objective method for in situ determination of a degree of sensory deterioration of beer caused by the aging process during storage was developed and validated. The novel method uses current reflectometric method of 5-(hydroxymethyl)furan-2-carbaldehyde (HMF) determination for the purpose of taste sensor. It requires only few minutes and an easy-to-use mobile reflectometer with test strips. According to our previous study, HMF is a very good indicator of a stale flavor in beer determined by a sensory analysis (correlation higher than 0.96). The reflectometric signal is transformed to the degree of the stale flavor using specified algorithm, which was derived in this study. The method provides results comparable with the sensory analysis by a trained sensory panel for lager beers and also provides objective reflection of beer deterioration for other beer styles.