Tasting notes & flavour wheels

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All in the best possible taste

Over many years brewers have developed a dictionary of terms to describe the flavours and aromas that may be present in beer. Some describe positive and desired characters and some can be used to describe an unwanted character. Interestingly there are many characters which are wanted in one beer type but not in another. This language of beer can be displayed visually using what is called a flavour wheel. The flavour wheel is separated into 14 classes, 46 first-tier terms and 76 second-tier terms. Each Greene King beer type has a unique flavour profile. These profiles show all the key primary characters of the beer and can be displayed using a spider diagram as below.

Abbot Ale

Greene King IPA

Old Speckled Hen

Listed below is a glossary of a few of the terms commonly used in brewing:
Standard Terminology	Further Descriptors
Alcohol	Ethanol, vinous, full
Bitter	Tonic water, quinine
Body	Full - creamy, viscous. Thin - dull, bland, watery
Burnt	Liquorice, smoky, chocolate
Carbonation	Gassy, tingling, lively
Diacetyl	Butterscotch, buttery, toffee, vanilla
DMS (dimethyl sulphide)	Sweetcorn, tomato ketchup, baked beans
Estery	Bananas, peardrops, pineapple
Floral	Roses, hyacinth, fresh hops
Grassy	Mown grass, hoppy, herbal
Hoppy	Herbal, fresh hops
Malty	Horlicks, nutty, bran
Ribes	Blackcurrant leaves
Spicy	Cinnamon, cloves
Sweet	Honey, syrupy, cloying, sugar
Toffee	Caramel, black treacle, cooked sugar