What a psycholinguist can tell us about how we describe beer flavors
From DRAFT, by KATE BERNOT
Ilja Croijmans | Photo by Irene Geurts
Want to improve your tasting notes? Practice, practice, practice.
Ilja Croijmans is a psychologist by training and a homebrewer in his off time. He’s a researcher in the field of psycholinguistics, which combines psychology and linguistics, obtaining his PhD at the Centre for Language Studies in Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
His work is currently focused on the ways people describe the flavor and aroma of food and beverages. In this vein, Croijmans coauthored a 2015 study titled “Odor Naming Is Difficult, Even For Wine And Coffee Experts,” which found that “both wine and coffee experts were no more accurate or consistent than novices when naming odors. ”
When I read of this study via Sprudge, a coffee publication, I naturally thought, “OK, but what about beer?”
Croijmans was kind enough to answer my questions about how his research into the language of flavor and aroma could impact beer judging as well as everyday beer enjoyment. Some of his responses have been edited for clarity and length:
Filed under: Beer In The News, Beer I.Q., Beer Styles, People of Beer, What's Brewing Tasting Panel
Tagged under: Aroma, beer, Beverages, Coffee, Describe, Flavor, Food, Homebrewer, Ilja Croijmans, Linguistics, Psycholinguistics, Psychologist, Psychology, Research, Tasting Notes, Wine
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