Is your beer really all about the ingredients?

[sablesurfer]

This is really kinda cool. The musician in this piece is my cousin!

It seems that the food writer/podcaster is actually tasting different stuff in the sample beers based on the music my cousin plays. This was done as a public experiment during a festival in Ireland.

http://www.eatthispodcast.com/an-experiment-in-sound-and-taste/

Now I know why I HATE drinking in loud bars/resturants. It makes my beer taste nasty....lol. (well now that is my story and I am sticking to it.)

 

[jwalk4]

 

[Talgrath]

I'm curious to see if that's actually the case though, or if it's more a matter of you mentally being distracted/annoyed by the loud music? What if the music played was something you really enjoyed? Would that improve the taste of the beer?

 

[sablesurfer]

I'm curious to see if that's actually the case though, or if it's more a matter of you mentally being distracted/annoyed by the loud music? What if the music played was something you really enjoyed? Would that improve the taste of the beer?

Did you listen to the podcast? That is what they cover.

 

[Talgrath]

Sorry, no, I didn't have time to listen, I really wish they included a text summary in stuff like this.

 

[brewfun]

A vast number of things influence our taste perception and they all seem to point most towards our sense of anticipation.

This seems to be borne out in a lot of beer flight reviews on various websites. The scenario usually includes one beer they've been waiting to try and keep for last. These reviews start with the first beer being some form of "better than I thought," and of course, the last beer is deemed excellent. Everything in between seems to get rated as "poor" to "ok, nothing special." I see this on Beer Advocate, Untapped and a bunch of blogs.

Various restaurant consulting groups have pointed out that in major cities, louder bars and restaurants tend to be rated highly on social aspects, but low on food/drink quality and flavor. Portion size tends to be the main method of increasing quality/flavor perception (bigger servings or more potent drinks), but so does exclusivity and to a certain extent, high prices.

All in all, things just seem to taste better when you anticipate them and can focus on a pleasant experience.