Artificial intelligence used to improve taste of beer

Artificial intelligence may threaten our jobs and our future – but on the plus side, it can make beer taste even better.

Artificial intelligence has been used to make beer taste even better. Picture: iStock

Artificial intelligence may threaten our jobs and our future and, ­according to Elon Musk, be more dangerous than nuclear weapons – but on the plus side, it can make beer taste even better.

Researchers from KU Leuven university in Belgium used AI modelling to predict drinkers’ preferred brews and decide which compounds could be added to improve them. The team spent five years analysing the chemistry of 250 commercial beers across 22 types, such as blondes, lagers and non-alcoholic beers, then compared them with taste profiles as judged by a panel of 16 beer connoisseurs and 180,000 reviews posted on the RateBeer platform.

For each beer, 226 chemical properties were measured, such as sugar concentration and acetic acid, which were linked to 50 “sensory profile” qualities, such as citrus, bitterness and floral. In a blind test, panellists smelt and tasted the 250 beers and scored each of the 50 sensory profile qualities from zero (not present) to six (predominant/overwhelming) in the aroma and flavour.

In the study, published in Nature Communications, the team said they used multiple computer models to see which best predicted the correlation between the compounds in the beers, the panellists’ scores and public reviews to see which chemical mix could improve a beer. They found that if only one compound was added, panellists noticed an “artificial” taste. If they added complex mixtures identified using the regression model, they could improve a beer in the unanimous opinion of the tasters.

Professor Kevin Verstrepen, the study lead, said a unanimous vote “meant the beer really was better”.

THE TIMES