A total of 20 people of
varying levels of experience participated in this xBmt. Each participant was served 1 sample of the beer fermented under cover and 2 samples of the beer fermented in direct sunlight in different colored opaque cups then asked to identify the unique sample. At this sample size, 11 tasters (p<0.05) would have had to identify the unique sample in order to reach statistical significance, which is exactly how many were able to do so (p=0.038), indicating participants in this xBmt could reliably distinguish a Pilsner fermented in a dark environment from one that was exposed to direct sunlight during fermentation.
The 11 participants who made the accurate selection on the triangle test were instructed to complete a brief preference survey comparing only the beers that were different. A total of 5 tasters reported preferring the beer fermented in the dark, 4 said they liked the beer fermented in direct sunlight more, and 2 tasters reported perceiving no difference.
My Impressions: During fermentation, I smelled a cannabis-like aroma from the lightstruck beer that was absent in its covered counterpart, which had me convinced they’d be different once finished. Sure enough, I was consistently able to tell the beers apart, correctly identifying the odd-beer-out in 8 out of 10 semi-blind triangle tests. Interestingly, the differences in aroma seemed to fade as the beers sat out, leaving me to rely more on taste and had me wondering if the lightstruck character had dissipated. As much as I enjoyed the version of this beer fermented under cover, it took everything in me not to dump the lightstruck batch before I finished collecting data. Yuck!
