Few beverages taste better on a hot day than an ice-cold beer. Why do you think that is? Researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences thought this question was worth looking into. So, they looked more closely into beer chemistry and the “molecular changes” beer goes through at different temperatures. Through their research, scientists were able to ID changes in “ethanol-water molecule clusters” and how temperature changes affected them. It turns out that those clusters take on a “pyramid shape” at around 41-degrees, which gives a “more stimulating taste.” As the temperature increases, the ethanol increasingly “takes center stage,” making it “boosier” and more “unpleasant, particularly around the 77-degree mark.
Source: New Scientist