I’ll start this with noting that I’m over two and a half years sober at not quite 24. But the taste memory is strong in my mind and I stand by what I’m about to say.
Beer strongly tastes like bananas. This isn’t a bad thing, but it is a weird one.
And I’m not talking about that one German beer that famously tastes like bananas called Hefeweizen. I’m talking about that crap from a keg that you drank in a damp basement your first weekend of undergrad that you didn’t even want to drink and was 67% foam. I’m also talking about the standard beer that your friend’s dad or your uncle snuck you way before you should have been drinking. That higher abv IPA your best friend’s brother bought you just so you could get drunk —because your state doesn’t sell liquor in grocery stores and they were the only place open— tastes a bit less like bananas I’ll be honest.
But beer tastes like bananas.
And peach pear La Croix tastes a bit like bananas and a teensy bit like very weak beer.
The first time I was inspired to look into what was causing flavor-wires to seemingly cross in my brain was while my beer-enthusiast genomic biology professor gave a whole lecture on beer yeast and reminded me of the banana flavor.
What was uncovered is that this is because of the chemical isoamyl acetate (also written as iso-amyl acetate). And with a name like that, aside from proprietary blends, it is no surprise we see “natural flavors” written on our sparkling water instead of the specifics. Isoamyl acetate is particularly common in wheat beers like Hefeweizen, but as long as it exists in the beer above the small amount of 1.4 mg per liter, odds are it is detectable in flavor. Which means I’ll probably detect it.
Isoamyl acetate is an ester, a functional designation of organic compounds and a byproduct of yeasts, known to “afford a fruity character to beer.” This particular ester is often found in fruits such as bananas and pears.
Ultimately, the most important thing discovered is that my flavor judgement wasn’t wrong and my friends who looked at me like I was crazy would be hearing this explanation the next time the topic of either beer or bananas came up.