Taste panels and focus groups for a new drink
A taste panel tells you whether people can tell two drinks apart or which they prefer. A focus group tells you why. Each needs a careful set-up, or it only confirms what you hoped.
Two tools for two questions
A taste panel measures. It answers questions such as: can people tell my new recipe from the old one? Which do they prefer? A focus group explores. It answers why people like or dislike something and what words they use.
Run the panel first, because it gives you something concrete to discuss. Keep the two apart so that a loud voice in the group does not change the scores.
Set up a fair blind tasting
Everything that is not the beer must be equal.
- Same glass for every sample, clean and rinsed with the same water.
- Same serving temperature, which for lager is often 4 to 7 °C and for many ales slightly warmer.
- Same pour volume, around 30 to 50 ml, so no one gets tired.
- Random three-digit codes on the glasses, not A and B, since people read meaning into letters.
- Random order for each taster, so the first sample does not always win.
Provide water and plain crackers as a palate cleanser. Add spit cups for anyone who prefers not to swallow. Make clear that tasting is optional. Nobody should drive afterwards if they have swallowed samples, so say so before you start.
The triangle test
To check whether a change is detectable, use the triangle test. Each taster gets three coded samples, two of one beer and one of the other. They pick the odd one out. By chance a third of people will pick correctly. If many more than a third do, the difference is real.
How many correct answers count as a real difference depends on the panel size and the confidence level you want, so use a published triangle-test table and set the threshold before you taste. This test tells you nothing about preference, so follow it with a question about which they like better.
How many tasters and who
For screening, a panel of 15 to 25 is workable, but small panels only detect large differences. Choose people who drink the category and are of legal drinking age. Avoid staff and close friends, who know what you hope to hear.
If your beer is aimed at newcomers, include newcomers, not only enthusiasts. Enthusiasts like bitterness and novelty that a first-time drinker may reject. The trained panel at your brewery is a separate tool for quality checks, covered in how to taste beer.
Running a focus group
A focus group is six to ten people and a moderator, usually for 60 to 90 minutes. The moderator works from a short guide of open questions and stays neutral. They do not defend the product or correct people.
Start with what people drink now and why, show the product and packaging, then ask what they notice, what they would expect to pay and where they would look for it. Record the session with permission. Plan for two or three groups at least, because one group can be dominated by its mood on the day.
Common set-up mistakes
The usual faults are small and avoidable. Samples served at different temperatures, because one jug sat on the table. A glass that still smells of detergent. Tasters who talk to each other between samples and so share one opinion. A panel run straight after a heavy lunch or with strongly scented food in the room.
Fix these with a written checklist and one person responsible for serving. Run a trial session with colleagues to catch the problems before the real panel arrives.
Finally, keep a record of each session: date, samples, panel size, scores and notes on anything unusual. After a few sessions you can compare results from one recipe round to the next.
Reading the results honestly
Count what happened, not what you remember. Report the number of tasters, how many picked each sample and what they said. If the result is close, say so. A narrow win on a small panel is a tie.
Be wary of the order effect and of preference for the first or the sweeter sample. And be careful with one-off events: if the batch tasted unusual that day, the result says little about your recipe. For the commercial side of the question, pair it with price research since a liked beer can still be priced out of reach.
Common questions
Can I use a homebrew club as a panel?
They are useful for technical feedback but they are not typical buyers. Use them to check quality and a separate group of ordinary drinkers to check appeal.
How many focus groups do I need?
Two or three is a reasonable minimum. Run more if the groups disagree.
Should tasters know which beer is mine?
No. Blind tasting is the point. Reveal the beers after the scores are in.
