0101 Brewed by Data

Product of: United Kingdom

See more Cream ale

View product website

The origins of this beer read like the start of a ‘how many does it take to change a light bulb joke’. Something of a publicity stunt for digital agency Havas helia, they analysed thousands of New Year related social media messages and matched them with a range of emotional states such as love,...

joy, harmony, cheerfulness, optimism and excitement. They then used a super computer, IBM Watson, to analyse 2,800 beer recipes according to descriptions of the ingredients, recipes, tasting notes and beer reviews to “identify the perfect recipe”, “categorising each beer according to human characteristics, such as assertive friendly or intelligent.”

Honey, the Nelson Sauvin hop variety and the Hallertauer hop emerged as the three most common ingredients. According to Havas helia’s press release, “Honey denotes love and cheerfulness, Nelson Sauvin is for optimism, imagination and resolution, and Hallertauer is for excitement and emotion.” The beer was brewed using these ingredients by the High Peak Brew Co. in Derbyshire, England.

Review and Tasting

Sampled on 06/02/2016

Appearance:

(sample bot BBE Dec 2016) Cloudy, straw yellow with retentive thick off-white head.

Aroma:

Yeasty crusty white bread, hay and faint white pepper.

Taste:

Light-bodied with a creamy mouthfeel and reminiscent of a wheat beer. Fairly bland and best described as tasting of white pepper hop spiced white bread with earthy notes of unripe gooseberries.

Aftertaste:

Dried grass bitter hops, white pepper and white bread.

Overall:

Brewed at a microbrewery according to a recipe designed by a social analyst, a marketing analyst and a super computer, this disappointing beer is proof that somethings are best kept simple and left to brewers and their craft.