Impact of temperature during beer storage on beer chemical profile

Aiming to gain insights into the impact of storage conditions on the chemical profile of beer samples, changes on the relative amount of several chemical classes of compounds was monitored. The influence of storage conditions was statistically discerned using the hierarchical cluster analysis complemented by heatmap date visualization. Aldehydes, furanic compounds and esters showed a clear role in beers stored at 37 +/- 1 degrees C (contribution >1, as obtained in the heatmap data visualization). The reaction rate constant and temperature dependence was well described by the Arrhenius equation for these compound classes, for which the reaction rate increased with increasing temperatures. The rate of development of furanic compounds, aldehydes and esters showed to be almost 140, 90 and 20 times higher in beers stored at higher temperatures (37 +/- 1 degrees C) when compared to beers stored at 4 +/- 1 degrees C, respectively. These results indicate that temperature was the main parameter contributing to the major changes in beer chemical profile. Through olfactometric analysis, the major difference was found in aged beers, both naturally and forced aged, where the prevalence of sweet and papery aroma notes were noticed, linked to the development of beta-damascenone and E-2-nonenal, respectively.