With so many amazing variations and styles of beers you’d think we’d eventually run out of ideas. Wrong! Thanks to big data that may never happen. According to PC World, marketing company Havas Helia, has brewed the first’s beer from big data.
Late last year, Havas Helia’s goal was to create a beer that embodied the optimism associated with beginning a new year. It began by tapping social media for emotional keywords used in New Year’s-related posts and then scored “thousands of messages” against a set of 24 predefined emotional states.
From there, the agency identified 38 distinct emotions with a clear tie to the new year. Among them were amazement, anticipation, generosity, indulgence, excitement, happiness, joy, love and good cheer.
Aiming to find a beer recipe that matched those emotions, Havas Helia used IBM’s Watson Alchemy technology to analyze 2800 recipes based on ingredients, tasting notes and reviews. Watson Personality Insights then helped profile each recipe as “assertive,” “friendly,” “intelligent” or a host of other possible qualities.
Among the final ingredients are honey and two varieties of hops: Nelson Sauvin and Hallertauer. “Honey for love and cheerfulness – Nelson Sauvin for optimism, imagination and resolution – and Hallertauer for excitement and emotion,” the beer’s website explains.
But don’t get too excited, because 0101 — “a fine tasting cream ale” brewed through a partnership with U.K.-based High Peak Brewing — was only released in a limited edition of 500 bottles.
I’ve used IBM’s Watson website to peruse craft beer stats. It’s pretty cool. Give it a shot yourself! Some people may think these types of ventures are taking the “craft” out of “craft beer”, but that begs the question, “Should we even call it craft beer?” What would you say to the ever expanding craft beer tech like the PicoBrew. Is that much different than the 0101?