Which chemical compound gives Heineken its sweet taste?

Question

I don't know about everyone else, but I perceive Heineken as sweet (not quite Pepsi, but still)

I looked up its nutritional info, and it appears that Heineken has 0 sugars. There exist chemical compounds that are not sugars, but still taste sweet though.

Which chemical compound gives Heineken its sweet taste?

Answer 1

Chances are that the sweet taste comes from the malt used in Heineken (and other beers).

Malt contains starches that are easily broken down into simple forms of sugar (like Maltose) early on. Amylase enzymes present in your saliva start breaking down starch into sugars, leading to a sweet taste when drinking Heineken.