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Isoamyl Alcohol Flavour Standard (Last Chance To Buy)
The FlavorActiV Isoamyl Alcohol flavour standard is a pharmaceutical-grade (GMP) sensory training tool designed to train professional taste panels to detect and measure the potency of fusel alcohols in beverages.
While some esters are desirable, uncontrolled Isoamyl Alcohol can ruin the balance of a beverage. This standard provides a consistent, stable reference material to help brewers and distillers calibrate their palates to the specific 5 mg/L flavour threshold, ensuring quality control across production batches.
We ship globally – shipping costs may apply depending on your region
Minimum Order: £275
WHAT IS ISOAMYL ALCOHOL FLAVOUR?
Isoamyl alcohol is a higher alcohol (or fusel alcohol) often found in fermented beverages like beer, wine, and spirits.
In terms of sensory profile, Isoamyl Alcohol flavour is characterised by a distinct banana oil aroma or a solvent-like, hot-alcohol sensation. Unlike simple ethanol, it is heavier and provides a “hot” or spicy mouthfeel that lingers on the palate.
While low levels can contribute to a complex bouquet in certain ales or whiskies, high concentrations are generally considered an off-flavour, leading to a harsh, “boozy” drinking experience.
WHAT CAUSES ISOAMYL ALCOHOL OFF-FLAVOUR?
To manage quality, brewers must understand what causes Isoamyl Alcohol flavour to develop during production. It is primarily a byproduct of yeast metabolism during fermentation.
Excessive production is usually triggered by “stressed” yeast or poor fermentation conditions, including:
- High Fermentation Temperatures: Yeast becomes overactive, producing excess fusel alcohols.
- Improper Aeration: Incorrect levels of dissolved gases (specifically oxygen) during the lag phase.
- Low Nitrogen: A lack of Free Amino Nitrogen (FAN) can force yeast to synthesise amino acids, creating fusel alcohols as byproducts.
- Incorrect Pitching Rates: Under-pitching or over-pitching yeast can lead to stress-induced compound formation.
USING THE ISOAMYL ALCOHOL FLAVOUR STANDARD FOR SENSORY TRAINING
Accurate detection is vital for Quality Control (QC). Using this GMP flavour standard allows sensory panel leaders to simulate off-flavour occurrences in a controlled environment.
By spiking a control beer or neutral spirit with this standard, tasters can learn to identify the specific 5 mg/L threshold. This training ensures that when a taster flags a “hot” or “solvent” note in a commercial batch, the feedback is accurate and actionable.
HOW TO RECOGNISE ISOAMYL ALCOHOL FLAVOUR: SENSORY TERMS?
When evaluating beverages, isoamyl alcohol is typically described using the following sensory terms:
- Alcoholic: A warming, spirit-like sensation.
- Banana Oil: A fruity, ester-like aroma reminiscent of artificial banana.
- Hot Alcohol: A sharp, lingering mouthfeel often associated with higher alcohol content.
Recognising these descriptors is key to quality assurance and product development.
WHAT ARE THE PROFESSIONAL APPLICATIONS OF THE ISOAMYL ALCOHOL FLAVOUR STANDARD?
The Isoamyl Alcohol flavour standard is widely used in:
- Breweries and distilleries: For sensory panel training and quality control.
- Beverage research labs: To study the impact of fermentation variables on flavour.
- Sensory evaluation courses: As a reference for teaching and certification.
These applications help professionals maintain high standards and quickly identify process deviations.
OTHER INFORMATION
Flavour levels: 5 mg/l
Common Synonyms: Isopentyl alcohol, Fusel oil, Fusel alcohol.
Occurrence: Common in Ales, Lagers (as an off-flavour), Whiskies, and Brandies.
FlavorActiV GMP Flavour Standards
Only Pharmaceutical Quality GMP Flavour Standards provide sufficient quality for professional sensory panels to train and validate with.
We produce encapsulated GMP (Pharmaceutical Good Manufacturing Practice) Flavour Standards that are safe to both smell and drink. The compounds within our capsules impart the aroma, taste and mouthfeel of a specific defect or positive flavour into a beverage for the purposes of taster training, calibration and quality control.
Our individual flavour GMP Flavour Standards are sold by flavour, each flavour pack contains 5 capsules, each separately blister packaged. Our sensory kits contain a mixture of flavours, each separately blister packaged, read the product description for flavour details.
We ship globally, and have over 20 years of experience at it. Our GMP Pharmaceutical Flavour Standards are produced to the highest standards, and as such, their shelf-life is strong and their quality consistent.
FlavorActiV’s flavour centre is the world’s only pharmaceutically run facility dedicated to the production of flavour reference standards. The Flavour Centre is a state-of-the-art facility housed within the campus of world-renowned Quay Pharma near Liverpool in the U.K.
The Flavour Centre was designed by FlavorActiV from the ground up at the direct request of global customers as they looked to move away from inferior food grade ‘certified flavour standards’ to GMP Pharma, a standard that ensures safe, stable, traceable, consistent and long shelf-life products.
All FlavorActiV’s industry-leading encapsulated flavour standards are manufactured following GMP at our Flavour Centre. All aspects of manufacture are overseen by Quay Pharma who are audited by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the U.K. Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory agency (MHRA). We also welcome customer audits.
Only FlavorActiV GMP flavour standard capsules bear our mark of authenticity.
We brand each of our capsules so that our customers know they’re getting the Pharmaceutical GMP Quality that only FlavorActiV provide.
Industry leading packaging and shelf-life
FlavorActiV flavour standards are blister packaged, which extends shelf-life and protects capsules from potential contamination. The average shelf-life of FlavorActiV flavour standards is 18 months to 4 years, depending on the flavour compounds.
We will never ship in pots or plastic packaging, here’s why…
Blister packaging protects capsules from the environment until they are ready for use. Blister packaging greatly reduces the amount of headspace for possible flavour escape. As each capsule individually blister packaged, making use of one capsule still leaves all others protected. FlavorActiV Flavour Standard packaging is 100% recyclable, as opposed to polypropylene which is not widely recycled.
Pots are semi-porous, they allow molecules to pass through and flavour to be lost, their significant headspace also adds to substantial flavour escape as a gas, even when using just one capsule all those remaining in the pot are exposed.
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