I hate how much I’m hearing about AI now, but it is coming for everyone’s jobs, so it begs the question: when will AI brew beer?
With any luck never, because I don’t know how AI would understand balancing flavors, using the right hops, and making sure the beer is the right color. I bet AI would come up with funny beer names, but that’s about it.
So, when will AI brew beer? I guess now.
AI Beer: A Recipe For Disaster?
With AI creating all sorts of content online, ranging from funny to scary to outright wrong, it was only a matter of time until someone decided to let AI get into beer in the easiest way possible. No, it wasn’t picking a funny name for the beer (the most obvious use case). It was letting AI create the brew recipe.
Atwater Brewing, a Detroit-based brewery, decided to let AI create an IPA that blended Citra, Centennial, and Amarillo hops. Aptly named Artificial Intelligence IPA (not a funny pun at all)
How does it taste? I have no idea, I never tried it. But it made the news, so there’s that.
Since then, in no effort whatsoever to ride the coattails of the AI craze, other brewers have followed suit. Because sure, why not?
It is worth noting that while AI did create the recipes, people still did need to brew the beer. Of course, it’s only a matter of time until machines can perfect the brewing craft and replace all humans, right?
AI: A Bright Future For Beer And All
Once AI is doing all the brewing, and all the jobs for that matter, one can only wonder how people will be able to afford the beer. Will AI have to start brewing beer for…AI?
All joking aside, AI is not coming for everyone’s jobs, and it definitely isn’t coming for brewers’ jobs. Even it many parts of brewing become automated, someone with brewing experience needs to supervise the brew to make sure nothing goes terribly wrong.
But if brewers plan to embrace AI and have it create recipes, why do an IPA? Why not have it create something that really moves the needle? I’m talking Captain Crunch, red wine vinegar, and chicken noodle soup, spontaneously fermented and aged in rum barrels for 5 months to add more notes to the blend.
In reality, the AI craze is probably akin to that of the Brut IPA. Everyone brewed it, everyone talked about it, then everyone moved on. AI isn’t the answer to everything, just the same as a Brut IPA isn’t.
But we can learn from the Brut IPA and use the Brut IPA as a jumping off point to get better and better beer. Maybe AI will help.
Anyway, here’s a funny beer name created by AI.
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