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Article

Sensory compensation in low-alcohol beer: dose responses of esters and hop oils

Dealcoholization is not subtraction. At 0.5% ABV, a narrow window of isoamyl acetate and linalool can rebuild “beeriness”.

Nanxing Pei1†, Ingrid Berg2, Muzhi Zhou1

* Equal contribution · † Corresponding author

B.E.E.R. 647, 261–268 (2026)

Received: 2 April 2026
Accepted: 12 August 2026
Published: 15 September 2026
DOI: 10.1038/sbeer-026-18455-2

Abstract

The global market for low- and no-alcohol beer is expanding rapidly, yet the “hollow” character after dealcoholization remains the main reason for exit. We systematically titrated 9 esters and 6 hop monoterpenes into a 0.5% ABV lager matrix, combining time–intensity sensory work with fMRI. Joint addition of isoamyl acetate at 1.6–2.2 mg L⁻¹ and linalool at 80–110 µg L⁻¹ restored “beeriness” scores to 91% of a 4.8% ABV control without triggering a “perfume” rejection. Prefrontal responses to ethanol burn cannot be fully replaced by aroma, but can be partly masked by body polysaccharides.

Subject: Sensory science

Dealcoholization technology can already take ethanol below 0.5% ABV, yet consumers still complain that it “tastes like tea, not beer”1. Ethanol itself contributes sweetness, burn and viscosity; aroma compensation can cover only part of that.

Three glasses of different beer styles beside a spring
Fig. 1 | Beers of different colour. Low-alcohol products need to rebuild “beeriness” at both the visual and the aroma ends.

Our dose–response curves show that excess esters and excess hop oil both drop quickly into a rejection zone. The operable window is narrow, which explains why no-alcohol products on the market polarize.

Methods

  1. The matrix was an industrial lager dealcoholized by vacuum distillation. Aroma compounds were spiked back as food-grade standards.
  2. Sensory panel n = 42, time–intensity method; fMRI subsample n = 18.

Data availability. Raw sensory scores and imaging statistical maps are in the supplementary files.

Acknowledgements. National Key R&D Programme 2024YFF1106800.

Author contributions. P.N.X. designed the study; I.B. supplied dealcoholized controls; Z.M.Z. carried out the imaging.

Competing interests. The authors declare no competing interests.

Authors and affiliations

  1. 1. College of Food Science and Nutritional Engineering, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China
  2. 2. Technical University of Munich, Chair of Brewing and Beverage Technology, Freising, Germany

Corresponding author: Nanxing Pei (nxpei@cau.edu.cn)

References

  1. 1. Bellut, K. & Arendt, E. K. Dealcoholized beer — a review. Beverages 5, 25 (2019).
  2. 2. Gernat, D. C. et al. Aroma recovery in dealcoholized beer. Food Bioprocess Technol. 13, 1–18 (2020).
  3. 3. Piornos, D. A. et al. Orthonasal and retronasal aroma in low-alcohol beer. Food Chem. 334, 127583 (2021).