Quality control of small and large-scale brewed beers

Beer is one of the oldest and most consumed beverages in the world. It is the industry that has more excellent representation in the alcoholic beverage sector, contributing significantly to the global economy. There has been a recent boom in demand for small-scale brewed beers (called craft beer), people have sought variety in flavor, aroma and unique beer characteristics. Microbreweries are companies that aim at productions on a small-scale and with a differentiated product, of high sensorial quality and defined styles. The beer of microbreweries is more fullbodied, with a remarkable aroma and flavor. The producers are engaged in proposing novelties, surpassing expectations, achieving perfection, and producing the product with art. Marketing connects these two worlds and uses the sensory, affective relationship to drive that market. Considering the current market requirement and the importance of effective quality control, this work evaluated the quality of American IPA, small and large-scale brewed beers, by assessing the reproducibility of physical-chemical and sensory analysis. Through physical-chemical tests, the craft beer produced in the present work was compared to the large-scale brewed beers, the market-leading, and a beer recently introduced to the market with innovative/bold proposals. To conclude the comparative analyzes, a sensorial analysis was carried out to determine the acceptability and the preference scale of the beers. No significant differences were perceived by the beer consumers comparing the three evaluated products, showed the high quality of the craft beverage developed in the present work.