The next pint you pour may tickle your tastebuds thanks to technical tinkering by artificial intelligence. It may even be the next big thing in the food and beverage space—certainly an easier sell than vaginal beer and artificial steak.
Already an acquired taste for particular palates, the taste of beer could be made better with the help of AI. A group of scientists went well beyond asking a chatbot for some random soda flavor in a fancy presentation. By combining extensive chemical analyses with AI models trained on sensory data, researchers have identified specific compounds that can boost the taste of your favorite brews.
"Our study reveals how big data and machine learning can uncover complex links between food chemistry, flavor, and consumer perception," the research paper published today in the journal Nature Communications says. "This paves the way for developing novel tailored food products with superior, crowd-pleasing flavors using a data-driven approach rather than just trial-and-error."
The research, conducted by an international team of over a dozen experts, analyzed over 250 commercial Belgian beers spanning diverse styles. Each beer underwent rigorous chemical profiling to measure over 200 different properties like esters, alcohols, acids and aroma compounds.
This chemical fingerprint was then matched against quantitative sensory evaluations from a trained panel of tasters scoring 50 distinct flavor attributes as well as over 180,000 online reviews from beer enthusiasts rating aroma, taste and overall appreciation.
Leveraging this massive dataset, the researchers next trained and tested various machine learning algorithms to parse the complex relationships between a beer's chemical makeup and its perceived flavors and consumer appeal. One common algorithm emerged as the top performer, significantly outperforming conventional statistical methods.
"The best-performing algorithm, gradient boosting, yields models that significantly outperform predictions based on conventional statistics and accurately predict complex food features and consumer appreciation from chemical profiles," the research reads. This method, researchers say, “allows identifying specific and unexpected compounds as drivers of beer flavor and appreciation."
Gradient boosting is a machine learning technique that combines multiple small, inaccurate models into a larger one that is capable of making good predictions. It’s widely used in banking and healthcare as well as for marketing campaigns that try to predict the outcomes of specific endeavors.
Crafting good beer was not likely its main purpose, but gradient boosting outperformed other prediction models tested by the research team.
The researchers found that “flavor compound concentration does not always correlate with perception,” meaning that consumers tend to appreciate more nuances beyond just flavor when enjoying a good beer. This is hard to predict with conventional models and simple analyses, and it is one of the reasons why the team considered such a large number of variables.
Through interpretable machine learning techniques, the scientists uncovered some unexpected compounds that strongly influence the quality of a beer. For example, methanethiol and ethyl phenyl acetate are typically associated with staleness, but can make a beer taste good in small doses.
More familiar flavor drivers like ethyl acetate and lactic acid were also examined.
To validate their models, the researchers conducted tasting experiments in which they spiked poorly rated beers with the machine learning-identified compounds that increased appreciation. This simple adjustment led to significant increases in trained panelists' flavor scores and overall preference ratings for the modified beers compared to the originals.
The brewers and beer lovers of the world may soon have to thank artificial intelligence for enhancing our enjoyment of one of humanity's oldest and most beloved beverages. But the applications extend far beyond better beer. Similar AI-powered chemical profiling could optimize the flavors of everything from plant-based meat alternatives to low-sugar sodas and snacks.
"The present work demonstrates that despite some important remaining hurdles, combining the latest developments in chemical analyses, sensory analysis, and modern machine learning methods offers exciting avenues for food chemistry and engineering," the researchers argue. “Soon, these tools may provide solutions in quality control and recipe development, as well as new approaches to sensory science and flavor research."
The next time you crack open a perfectly balanced, delectable beer, it may disprove the old adage that 'artificial' is inferior and give pause to raise a glass to AI.
Edited by Ryan Ozawa.
Web3 Desktop Trading Tool
Stay ahead of the game in the cryptocurrency space.
US President Donald Trump once again urged Federal Reserve Chairperson Powell to cut interest rates in a post on the social media platform "Real Social". The day before, Trump posted on the social media platform on the 9th, criticizing the current interest rate policy of the Federal Reserve, saying that the interest rate set by the Federal Reserve is at least 3 percentage points higher, and each percentage point of interest rate is causing the United States to refinance $360 billion a year. Acco...
Germany's state-owned development bank NRW.BANK issue blockchain bonds worth 100 million euros (about $116.70 million) on the Polygon blockchain.
The bond is registered under the German Electronic Securities Act (eWpG), with infrastructure provided by Cashlink's BaFin-regulated crypto securities registry. The offering attracted participation from several institutional investors, with Deutsche Bank, DZ Bank, and Decca Bank acting as lead underwriters, marking the growing acceptance of digital sec...
Ethena Labs announced Coinbase International as the latest hedging platform for USDe's underlying assets. "Coinbase's unpositioned squaring contracts have recently surpassed $1 billion, providing significant liquidity to diversify the hedging of USDe's underlying assets through attractive funding rate allocations."
According to analyst Ember Monitor, a giant whale has raised another 17,925 ETH from Kraken in the past half hour, worth about $50 million. A total of 72,050 ETH worth $200 million has been raised in 22 hours.
Kraken has launched local currency financing services in Argentina and Mexico, where customers can now deposit local currencies - ARS and MXN - via domestic payment methods, providing faster and easier access to Kraken's crypto services.
In addition, in Argentina, Kraken is now officially registered as a virtual asset service provider (VASP) with Argentina's National Asset Management Commission (CNV), enabling it to operate in full compliance with local regulations.
As of 23:00 closing, the main domestic futures contracts rose more and fell less, coking coal and glass rose more than 2%, iron ore, hot coil, coke, rebar, rubber, rapeseed meal, soda ash, synthetic rubber, No. 20 rubber rose more than 1%, in terms of decline, fuel fell more than 1%, short fiber fell nearly 1%
Federal Reserve Musalem: Stablecoins are an interesting innovation in payments, and it's good to have a regulatory framework. Stablecoins could become an important part of payments.
Former US Vice President Mike Pence supported Trump's speech on the Federal Reserve and its policies, and reiterated his opposition to the Fed's dual mandate of balancing prices and employment. Click to view...
According to crypto journalist Eleanor Terrett, the U.S. Senate Banking Committee plans to postpone discussion of the draft Crypto Market Structure Act until next week, with the original goal of this week. Meanwhile, the House Ways and Means Oversight Subcommittee has rescheduled a hearing on the development of the Crypto Tax Policy Framework for the 21st Century to next Wednesday (16th), during "Crypto Week".