Multivariate characterisation of beers according to their mineral content

In the present paper, a study on the characterisation of beer samples according to their mineral content has been carried out. Zn, P, B, Mn, Fe, Mg, Al, Sr, Ca, Ba, Na and K were determined by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) in 32 beer samples. Lager, dark and low alcoholic content beers were considered. The analysed elements were considered as chemical descriptors in order to apply pattern recognition procedures, including display and supervised learning methods such as linear discriminant analysis and artificial neural networks.