Sensory characteristics of Romanian, Polish, Albanian and Former Yugoslavian beers

In a multicultural market, attitudes towards the sensory quality of a beer can vary largely across ethnic groups. People are more likely to react positively to the sensory characteristics of beers that they are familiar with in their homeland market, than to the sensory qualities of beers brewed in the host country, considering that familiarity dictates to a large extent what is acceptable or not in the food domain. Further, beer sensory characteristics of migrants’ native markets can differ largely from sensory qualities of beers brewed in the host country, since culture is a powerful trait d’union able to create distinctions across countries. This study evaluated the sensory profile of beers on sale in the Balkans and in Poland because of the relevance that these minorities have in Italy. Fifty-two beer samples were studied, partitioned into Romanian (n = 11), Albanian (n = 4), Polish (n = 7), former Yugoslavian (n = 21) and Italian (n = 9) according to Quantitative Descriptive Analysis. The results of this study revealed that Romanian beers were significantly (P < 0.001) more bitter, carbonated, alcoholic, and astringent than beers brewed in the other countries. Polish beers were the fullest-bodied and the richest in malty taste, while the former Yugoslavian beers were the fruitiest and most floral. Albanian brands were the richest in papery, worty, grainy, cooked vegetable-like and caramel-like taste. Hierarchical Cluster Analysis revealed that dominant brands of the Italian market were closer to the Polish and Yugoslavian beers than to the Romanian and Albanian.