Date Held: 23rd January 2008 - Hosted by ICBD, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh. Topic: Sensory Analysis Attendance: 60 people from backgrounds such as brewers, distillers, academics & students. The topic (Sensory Analysis) awoke an interest in many people from different fields within the IBD network and outside.  Together three continents, academia and industry met to exchange and discuss cutting edge research in the world of sensory analysis in beverages. This year the Video Link research update brought together sites from North America (Coors and SAB Miller), Australia - Foster's and Europe (ICBD, Weihenstephan, FlavorActiV, Coors). Unfortunately, some technical inconveniences might have caused the absence of the Pilsner Urquell -  Czech Republic site dialling in for the first time to the video conference and equally Lion Nathan sent their apologies for not participating due to technical issues.  The scientific presentations sparked lively discussions between participants and ideas were exchanged all that in a great relaxed atmosphere. This year's topic being Sensory Analysis arouse unexpected interest among the brewing and non brewing public and scientist. As said one of the participants: 'It was very informative, and enjoyable, with a warming sense of occasion'.  First presentation was given by Olga Novotna, PhD student in brewing, Young Member Representative for Scottish section and equally the organiser of the Video Link event. The title of the presentation was: 'Does hoppy aroma influence the perception of bitterness?' The presentation showed that addition of pure hop aromas fractions (floral, spicy and sylvan) to beer influence the perception of bitterness and astringency. The perception of bitterness was enhanced by the increasing concentration of hop aromas. Unexpectedly it was found that pure hop aromas also have an impact on perception of astringency in beer. The effect was opposite to that of bitterness, with suppression of astringency in all cases with the addition of pure hop aromas to the beer samples. From Germany, TUM Weihenstephan, Katrin Mathmann linked to the Video Conference to present her PhD research on 'Fluid Flow in the Oral Cavity as a Contribution to Sensory Sensations' Her interesting presentation enriched by videos and animations showed that fluid flow of liquid food in the oral cavity has a strong effect on sensory sensations. The pattern of fluid flow in the mouth during drinking beer and other beverages depends on the shape of the glass which plays a decisive role for consumer's perception therewith. The aim of the current study is to understand the fluid flow of liquid food in the mouth in order to give new hints regarding the understanding of mouthfeel. All the way from the Netherlands , Ronald Nixdorf (FlavorActiV) flew to Edinburgh to give a talk on 'Management of Taster Competence' describing the importance of selection, screening, training and validation of assessors with some critical remarks when compared to the recommended methods of the EBC / ASBC and BCOJ. Some tools to aid selection, screening, training and validation of assessors were shown. Over the years this event has developed into a global technical research update forum. Video Link event has a fifteen years tradition and thanks to the development of the technical facilities the transmission during the Video Conference Event is improving year by year. We are looking forward the next year's event IBD Scottish Section Video Link 2009.