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Leathery Flavour Standard
The Leathery Flavour Standard is an essential sensory training tool designed to help professional tasters, brewers, and sensory panellists recognise the specific characteristics of oxidation in beer. By providing a precise, consistent reference point, this standard allows sensory teams to calibrate their palates to detect “leathery” notes. This critical off-flavour indicates specific stages of beer ageing.
Whether you are managing a QA panel or looking to expand your personal sensory skills, the Leathery Flavour Standard ensures you can accurately identify this complex defect during quality control and shelf-life testing.
We ship globally – shipping costs may apply depending on your region
Minimum Order: £275
WHAT IS LEATHERY FLAVOUR?
Leathery flavour is a distinct off-note often described as resembling “old leather,” “animal hide,” or a “horse saddle.” In the context of beverage quality, it is considered a negative attribute. It is not usually present in fresh beer but develops over time, signalling that the product is moving through the intermediate stages of staling.
WHAT CAUSES LEATHERY OFF-FLAVOUR?
To effectively manage product quality, it is crucial to understand what causes leathery flavour. This defect is primarily a result of oxidation and the ageing process of beer.
- Intermediate Ageing: Unlike the immediate “papery” notes of early oxidation, leathery notes typically emerge during the intermediate stages of storage.
- Synergy with Other Compounds: The leathery character often acts synergistically with papery flavours (caused by trans-2-nonenal). When combined, they impart an overall “stale” profile to the beer, significantly degrading the consumer experience.
HOW TO RECOGNISE LEATHERY FLAVOUR: SENSORY TERMS?
When training with the Leathery Flavour Standard, panellists should look for specific aromatic and gustatory cues. The industry-standard descriptors for this defect include:
- Old Leather (worn or tanned hide)
- Horse Saddle (animal-like, sweaty)
- Stale (oxidised character)
USING THE LEATHERY FLAVOUR STANDARD FOR SENSORY TRAINING
Consistent training is the only way to calibrate a sensory panel. This standard provides a safe, GMP-compliant method to introduce the leathery defect into a control beer.
- 1. Calibration: It allows tasters to memorise the specific “leathery” note without the interference of other spoilage flavours.
- 2. Threshold Testing: Determine the sensitivity of your panel members to oxidation defects.
- 3. Differentiation: Train tasters to distinguish between “leathery” (intermediate ageing) and “papery” (early oxidation) or “cardboard” notes.
WHAT ARE THE PROFESSIONAL APPLICATIONS OF THE LEATHERY FLAVOUR STANDARD?
The leathery flavour standard is used by:
- Breweries and beverage producers for quality assurance and product consistency.
- Sensory panels and training programs to develop expert tasters.
- Research institutions studying flavour chemistry and beer ageing.
- Certification bodies such as the ASBC (American Society of Brewing Chemists) and EBC (European Brewery Convention) recommend this standard as a sensory reference.
OTHER INFORMATION
Beer Flavour Wheel Number: 0830
The leathery flavour standard is a suggested flavour reference standard of the ASBC and EBC.
Order the Leathery Flavour Standard kit today to elevate your sensory training and secure your product quality.
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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