The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, October 06, 1977, Page Page 9, Image 9
Drinkers i
By JOHN KOZMA ic
Gamecock Staff Writer n
This is the last of a three-part
series. t\
Average beer drinkers can ri
detect flavor differences between S
some beers, but are seldom able to b
identify their favorite brand from a p
group of unlabeled samples, based b
on a test by The Gamecock. b
With the help of the Golden Spur,
The Gamecock administered a Ii
taste test to eight USC students. fi
The students were first asked to n
rate nine popular brands- oi
Budweiser, Michelob, Schlitz,
Pabst, Heineken, Miller, Miller fl
Lite, Schlitz Malt Liquor and U
domestic Lowenbrau-according to si
their taste preferences.
Given a small sample of each, n
the participants were then asked to n
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lentify each sample by brand
ame.
ONE PARTICIPANT identified
vo samples correctly, five were
ight once, and two missed all nine,
statistically, similar results might
e reasonably expected if the
articipants never tasted the beer,
ut simply guessed what the
rands were.
Tom Schmidt of Arthur D. Little
ic., a Massachusetts consulting
rm, pointed out factors which
lay have caused the low number
f correct answers.
Schmidt, a member of the firm's
avor sciences unit, said their
jsters sample no more than three
imilar brands at one sitting.
"Tasting is difficult even under
lore controlled conditions," Schlidt
said. "With nine brands, the
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> detect f c
I taste buds get confused."
MORE STRIKING than the
i incorrect brand identification in
the test was the disparity of
comments about each brand. Two
students who correctly identified
Budweiser thought it had a "sharp,
full flavor" and "higher carhnnotinn
'' :*
RA/IBUV1UII. UUIIICV1IC tdllt'U 11
Pabst and said it "tastes terrible",
while still another claimed it was
Miller and said it was "bitter".
Miller Lite, which nnnp nf th**
participants got right, drew the
greatest variety of comments. One
student thought it was Michelob
and credited it with a "smooth, fine
taste," while another said it was
Budweiser--,4heavy, not very
good".
TO INSURE consistent results in
_ flavor testing, Schmidt said tasting
I should be done in an odor free room
I with carefully cleaned glassware.
| Kvpn linHpr 1pm than iHoal enn.
ditions, though, a discerning beer
drinker should be able to pick out
the two or three brands he drinks
most often without even tasting
them, simply by the aroma, he
said.
Only one of our tasters was able
to identify a brand which he drinks
often. Two people with a favorite
brand not only couldn't recognize
it, but made negative comments
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about it.
And Pabst, which drew com
ments before the samples were
brought out like ."cheap beer","nc
quality", and "miserable", fooled
everyone. After tasting the
unlabeled samples, the same
people thought it was "smooth",
"OK", and had a "light taste".
Schmidt said the plastic cups
used in the test may have had some
effect, as they tend to suppress the
beer's flavor. "Plastic cups have a
tendency to cut down on the
volatile aromatics," he said.
TUF. POSSIRII ITV that tho
was affected by one or more
delinquent bottles of beer, said
Schmidt, is minimal. "Brewers do
a remarkably good job of main
taining uniform flavor quality," he
said. With modern bottling
equipment, he said, maybe one in a
hundred bottles will have a straw
like flavor or take on a reddish
tinge due to oxidation.
iu:? i -
OV.UI111UI sctiu nub uappens wnen
one of the dip sticks, which control
the level the bottle is to be filled,
gets out of adjustment. If too mucli
air stays in the bottle, oxidation
will spoil the beer, he said. So if the
bottling machine fills a hundred
bottles at a time, every hundredth
bottle might be bad.
Ideally, Schmidt said, beer
should be stored between 42 and 45
degrees and kept in constant
contact with carbon dioxide. This
is especially true for draught beer,
he said, which is unpasteurized.
Because it can lose this contact,
a keg which is emptied with a hand
pump msieaa 01 pressurized
earbon dioxide bottles, can get flat
and take on a cardboard-like taste
or a reddish tinge overnight, ever
if kept on ice, Schmidt said.
YEARS OF testing and sur
veying by the flavor sciences unit
show that about a third of all beer
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differences, another third can
detect differences but consider
other factors when buying, while
? the other one in three buys strictly
on the basis of taste.
Schmidt said he did not know
exactly what proportion of beer
drinkers can make brand distinctions
on taste alone under proper
conditions, but guessed that it is
probably close to one-third.
"People don't generally pay attention
to what they put in their
( mouths," he said.
The drinking habits of USC
students at the Golden Spur
provide ample proof of this point.
, -i..J ? - "
??mic muni siuuems, according 10
I our survey, prefer bottles to
draught beer because they said it
tastes less "watered down", the
Spur sells almost a hundred kegs of
; draught per week-three times the
i ciiiiuuni oi pacKagea neer, according
to manager Jake Williams,
i What's on tap is cheaper, of
course, but quite often, Williams
i said, the guy ordering doesn't care
I what brand it is. He'll just say
"Light draught." Then the bari
tender chooses, Williams said.
i
i Decorations
grow easily
B> DKIIIIIK SI1KIMIKHI)
' ( aiiM'itK'k Staff Writer
ror students searching for
decorations to beautify their
rooms, several stores within
' walking distance of I'SC carry a
variety of plants which can be
? grown easily in a dormitory.
1 Roger Patton. a salesman from
the Blossom Shop in Five Points,
said Spa thiphy Hums and
Chlorophytums plants can grow
well in minimum light Draeaneas
plants andChinese evergreens also
grow well in minimum light
ij WATERING l>K.PK\l?S 11.1 lh.?
individual plant, hut each of the
plants should bo watered at least
nee a week. Fat ton said
Small plants at the Blossom Shop
sell from S3 and larger plants start
.it about $10.
"Cacti are also popular dorm
plants." Pat ton said. "CV.eti
require bright sunlight and they
should be watered about every
three weeks."
Dieffenbacluas. which have stout
stems, and prayer plants are fairly
easy to grow.
"TIIKSK IM..WTS." said (Jinny
McMillan, salesgirl al Ei son's on
Main St.. "should bo kept close to
window, although they do not need
direct sunlight Plant:; tl?;it n.i
lot of light will grow with less light
hut they do not look as pretty," she
said.
1 McMillan said that since dorms
have a low humidity level, plants
needing a great deal of moisture
can he misted or set above pebbled
I tii niiuiii im'R.s in a uai pan 01
, water.