When you think of AI, what comes to mind? Chat GPT? Skynet? Do cats do impossible things? Would you like to make more delicious beer? As you sit around the family table this Easter and enjoy a cold beer or three, you have to bring up the fact that AI can actually be used to make beer taste better.
The resulting “improved” beer was well-received, even if the idea of a bunch of computer servers ruining one of my favorite things was sacrilege.
According to a study published in Nature (via guardian), Belgian researchers led by Professor Kevin Verstrepen of the University of Leuven used a machine learning model to predict how beer would taste after changing its composition. Parameters include the basics such as alcohol content, amount of sugar, yeast, and hops, but smaller compounds and how they interact were also looked at.
The model was trained using 180,000 online beer reviews and feedback from a tasting panel of 16 participants. The committee sampled 250 beers over three years for 50 different characteristics, including bitterness, sweetness, alcohol content and malt aroma.
The model was then asked to improve the beer by suggesting changes to its composition. The researchers made several changes to the commercially available beer with modifications suggested by the model before providing samples to the tasting panel. The resulting beer was given a significantly higher rating by the judges.
Clearly, beer is more than just a list of ingredients in a vat. The brewer’s skill and methodology are always the key to delicious beer. But if AI can suggest ways to make beer taste better, or just as importantly, how to turn bad beer into good beer, then I’ll try to use it as a guinea pig in my next test session. I volunteer to be. Only the beers listed above are free.
On a more serious note, after making the changes suggested by the model, the team was able to create a non-alcoholic beer that was indistinguishable from regular beer. Surely it’s harmless.
Finally, if I went to a university professor and said, “I want to write a paper about beer,” I don’t know if they would approve. I wish I had thought about it.