the library

Ale

Spirits & brews· beer

Ale

What it is

Ale is a beer brewed with top-fermenting yeast at warmer temperatures, from malted barley, water and hops.

What it tastes like

On the nose: dry, pear, almond. Among its measured molecules: 2,5-dimethylpyrazine, propanal, 1-butanol, 2-methyl-1-butanol, ethyl decanoate.

What goes with it

160 more go with it. See them all in the full library →

Salt and acid

Salt

Salt not measured yet.

Acid

Acid not measured yet.

Unusual pairings

Pairs the library can cite that almost nobody makes.

Every one of its 15 compounds carries a paper the library can cite.

  • acetaldehydearomaaldehydereads as pungent, fruity odor (PubChem)Measured in 18 of 338 ingredients.cite
    1.83 to 5.25 mg/L across the five beers — a 2.9-fold strain effect, the HVK kveik culture leaving less than half what the others doKawa-Rygielska et al. 2022, Molecules (Table 4, row 'Acetaldehyde', all five beer columns)
  • 1-butanolaromaalcoholreads as dry, burning taste (PubChem)Measured in 12 of 338 ingredients.cite
    0.25 to 0.61 mg/L across the five beers, the VK2 fermentation making less than half what the others doKawa-Rygielska et al. 2022, Molecules (Table 4, row '1-butanol', all five beer columns)
  • propanalaromaaldehydereads as characteristic odor similar to acetaldehyde (PubChem)Measured in 11 of 338 ingredients.cite
    0.43 to 0.73 mg/L across the five beers. The FM-53 cell is printed with a comma decimal separator, '0,69 ± 0.01', in a table that otherwise uses points; it is read as 0.69 mg/L.Kawa-Rygielska et al. 2022, Molecules (Table 4, row 'Propanal', all five beer columns)
  • 1-propanolaromaalcoholreads as burning taste (PubChem)Measured in 22 of 338 ingredients.cite
    28.70 to 70.22 mg/L across the five beers — a 2.4-fold strain effect, the largest relative spread of any compound present in all five, with VK2 more than double every other yeastKawa-Rygielska et al. 2022, Molecules (Table 4, row '1-propanol', all five beer columns)
  • phenylethyl alcoholaromaalcoholreads as sharp burning taste (PubChem)Measured in 41 of 338 ingredients.cite
    29.27 to 55.68 mg/L across the five beers — the widest strain effect of any of the large alcohols, the FM-53 fermentation making nearly twice what VK2 doesKawa-Rygielska et al. 2022, Molecules (Table 4, row 'Phenylethyl alcohol', all five beer columns)
  • isobutanolaromaalcoholreads as sweet, musty odor (PubChem)Measured in 24 of 338 ingredients.cite
    38.41 to 56.97 mg/L across the five beers; the VK2 fermentation makes about 48% more of it than the lowestKawa-Rygielska et al. 2022, Molecules (Table 4, row 'Isobutanol', all five beer columns)
  • furfuralaromafuranreads as almond-like odor (PubChem)Measured in 33 of 338 ingredients.cite
    5.65 to 9.19 mg/L across the five beers. Worth reading against the stout node, whose furfural range (from the same research group's later paired dark/pale study, cited there) overlaps this one: furfural is not a dark-beer compound, it is a beer compound, and this pale NEIPA carries as much of it as a roasted-malt beer does. The comparison figures live in stout.json, on the paper that measured them.Kawa-Rygielska et al. 2022, Molecules (Table 4, row 'Furfural', all five beer columns)
  • ethyl octanoatearomaesterMeasured in 24 of 338 ingredients.cite
    0.80 to 1.01 mg/L across the five beers — a 26% spread, one of the most yeast-independent compounds in the tableKawa-Rygielska et al. 2022, Molecules (Table 4, row 'Ethyl octanoate', all five beer columns)
  • ethyl decanoatearomaesterMeasured in 17 of 338 ingredients.cite
    3.31 to 12.16 mg/L across the five beers — a 3.7-fold strain effect and the largest of the ethyl esters, with the US-05 control making by far the least of itKawa-Rygielska et al. 2022, Molecules (Table 4, row 'Ethyl decanoate', all five beer columns)
  • 2-methyl-1-butanolaromaalcoholMeasured in 15 of 338 ingredients.cite
    28.09 to 35.38 mg/L across the five beers — a narrow 26% spread, the most yeast-independent of the higher alcohols and therefore the most category-typicalKawa-Rygielska et al. 2022, Molecules (Table 4, row '2-methylbutanol', all five beer columns)
  • ethyl acetatearomaesterreads as fragrant odor (PubChem)Measured in 42 of 338 ingredients.cite
    95.95 to 120.86 mg/L across the five NEIPA beers — the largest single volatile in every one of them and roughly a quarter of each beer's stated total volatiles. Highest in the US-05 control, lowest in FM-53.Kawa-Rygielska et al. 2022, Molecules (Table 4 (Analysis of volatile compounds of the beers), row 'Ethyl acetate', all five beer columns)
  • 2,5-dimethylpyrazinearomapyrazineMeasured in 10 of 338 ingredients.cite
    0.80 to 1.21 mg/L across the five beers. A Maillard pyrazine quantified in a pale, hop-forward ale — not a roast beer — which is the least expected result in this table and is reported here because the paper measured it in every one of the five.Kawa-Rygielska et al. 2022, Molecules (Table 4, row '2,5-dimethylpyrazine', all five beer columns)
  • isoamyl alcoholaromaalcoholMeasured in 43 of 338 ingredients.cite
    86.59 to 124.70 mg/L across the five beers — the largest higher alcohol in every one and the second-largest volatile overall. The VK2 beer is the outlier at 86.59 mg/L against 115-125 mg/L for the other four.Kawa-Rygielska et al. 2022, Molecules (Table 4, row '3-methylbutanol', all five beer columns)
  • ethyl hexanoatearomaesterMeasured in 36 of 338 ingredients.cite
    0.30 to 0.44 mg/L across the five beers — the smallest ester quantified in all five, and a compound whose concentration in this ale is roughly a thousandth of ethyl acetate's in the same glassKawa-Rygielska et al. 2022, Molecules (Table 4, row 'Ethyl hexanoate', all five beer columns)
  • isoamyl acetatearomaesterreads as pear-like odor (PubChem)Measured in 26 of 338 ingredients.cite
    0.51 to 0.67 mg/L across the five beers, and the paper's own letters make every one of the five significantly different from every other — the most finely strain-discriminated compound in the table despite the narrow absolute rangeKawa-Rygielska et al. 2022, Molecules (Table 4, row 'Isopentyl acetate', all five beer columns)

Sources

  • Kawa-Rygielska et al. 2022, Molecules