Beer Flavor Wheel is a terminology system for naming beer flavors systematically. Developed by a joint subcommittee of the European Brewery Convention and the American Society of Brewing Chemists, it groups taste and aroma characteristics into classes and primary and secondary terms.
The International Beer Flavor Terminology provides reference standards that serve as flavor examples for its terms. A 1982 paper presents 27 reference standards for use with this system and reports that, for each, the source of supply and purification method were chosen from those shown to give acceptable sensory purity.
According to the same paper, for each reference standard the flavor type and threshold when added to beer were measured in 2 or more laboratories, and the spread of thresholds among tasters was examined in at least 1. Which substance was chosen as the bitter standard, and what its threshold was, are not given in the abstract.
M. C. Meilgaard; D. S. Reid; K. A. Wyborski / 1982 / journal article / abstract checked
Checked for this overview: Used the 27 reference standards and how their sources and purification were chosen (within the abstract). / Used the fact that flavor type and threshold were measured in several laboratories (within the abstract). / Used for the limitation that the abstract gives no threshold for the bitter standard, so it is not covered here.
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Sensory (3)
Beer Flavor Wheel is listed as: 『In 1979 (11), the Subcommittees on Sensory Analysis of the European Brewery Convention and the American Society of Brewing Chemists published the International Flavor Terminology System. As illustrated in Fig. 1, this has 14 classes, 44 first-tier terms and (not shown) 78 second-tier terms.』 In the reproduction of Fig. 1, the term 『1200 BITTER』 is positioned as class 12, a first-tier term alongside 10 SWEET, 11 SALTY, 13 MOUTHFEEL, and others.preliminary
Scope: Meilgaard, Reid & Wyborski (1982), Fig. 1, 『The Flavor Wheel, showing class terms and first-tier terms.』
Note: The body text of the original 1979 paper itself (Meilgaard, Dalgliesh & Clapperton, J. Am. Soc. Brew. Chem. 37:42-52) was not checked directly. Confirmed as a reproduction of the figure in the 1982 paper. (2026-10-22: the supporting source was lowered to abstract level. The abstract does not give the numbers of classes and terms or the position of bitterness, so the status moved from supported to preliminary.)
Context: The abstract only says that the paper describes 27 reference standards for use with the International Beer Flavor Terminology. The numbers of classes and terms in the terminology system and the position of bitterness are not in the abstract.
Limitations: The numbers of classes and terms and the content of Fig. 1 were read on 2026-09-04 in an unofficial copy and cannot be confirmed from the abstract. Because the copy's origin could not be confirmed, this was lowered to abstract level (10/22).
Beer Flavor Wheel is defined as "1200 BITTER. The preparation Isolone® (Kalsec Inc., Kalamazoo, MI 49005) gave a typical bitter flavor with a minimum of other flavors. Thresholds were normally distributed."preliminary
Note: (2026-10-22: the supporting source was lowered to abstract level. The abstract does not name the bitter reference substance or describe the threshold distribution, so the status moved from supported to preliminary.)
Context: The abstract says that, for each reference standard, sources of supply and purification methods were chosen, flavor type and threshold in beer were determined in 2 or more laboratories, and the distribution of thresholds among tasters in at least 1. It does not say which substance was chosen as the bitter standard or describe the shape of the threshold distribution.
Limitations: The name of the bitter reference substance and the shape of the threshold distribution were read on 2026-09-04 in an unofficial copy and cannot be confirmed from the abstract. Because the copy's origin could not be confirmed, this was lowered to abstract level (10/22).
Beer Flavor Wheel is documented as having 『1200 Bitter / Isohumulone (Kalsec Isolone) / Threshold: 7.3 mg/L』 (collaborator C-22, 16 panelists) and 『5.7 mg/L』 (collaborator C-22, 18 panelists, noted as 『Three tests, unhopped beer』). As the group thresholds for the bitterness reference substance isohumulone, 7.3 mg/L and 5.7 mg/L are reported across the two test methods.preliminary
Scope: Meilgaard, Reid & Wyborski (1982) Table II
Note: Measured using the A.S.T.M. Ascending Method of Limits. Panel size 16-18 panelists. (2026-10-22: the supporting source was lowered to abstract level. The abstract gives no threshold values, so the status moved from supported to preliminary.)
Context: The abstract only says that thresholds of the reference standards were measured in 2 or more laboratories; it gives no threshold value for the bitter standard.
Limitations: The threshold values and numbers of tasters were read on 2026-09-04 in an unofficial copy and cannot be confirmed from the abstract. Because the copy's origin could not be confirmed, this was lowered to abstract level (10/22).