As microbrew beers have become more popular, the intrinsic characteristics of
beer have become more important in consumer purchasing decisions. We identify
sensory properties that influence consumers’ willingness to pay for beer using a
contingent valuation model that includes subjective sensory evaluations and sociodemographic characteristics of consumers. We find that overall taste and hoppiness of a beer have a significant and positive impact on willingness to pay.
That's from "Willingness to Pay for Sensory Attributes in Beer" by Gabrielan, McCluskey, Marsh, and Ross in the April 2014 issue of Agricultural and Resource Economics Review. As John Whitehead says: "Please tell me this was a field experiment."