Beer sporting a head of foam packs in double the flavour 

The benefits of having your bartender pour you a generous head of foam on your pint of beer have been outlined in a new study.

The research, published in the Journal of the American Society of Brewing Chemists, measured the scent of the beer using ultrasonic waves to identify that the aroma components were 1.3 to 1.9 times higher in the beer with a frothier head compared to the flat beer.

The study, conducted by researchers from Kyushu Sangyo University in Fukuoka, Japan as well as by the Japanese brewing company Asahi, additionally highlighted how bubbles in the beer hold flavour compounds which means that when a bubble bursts these flavours are released into the air near the drinker’s nose.

According to the study: “The foam acts as an efficient gas exchange surface funneling aromas toward the drinker’s olfactory sensors, and it provides a drinker’s first tantalising entrée as to the quality of the beer’s flavour, freshness, refreshingness, and wholesomeness.”

The findings also discovered how the beer’s foam also acts as a “lid” for carbon dioxide, which would otherwise escape taking flavour with it and noted how “the foam prevents beer from losing its flavour due to changes in its composition caused by exposure to air”.

To conclude, the study identified how, ultimately, “foam can promote the release of specific and attractive aromas to encourage beer drinking”. Essentially, the goal of bar owners and brewers alike.