Where Artificial Intelligence Meets Craft Brewing
Gone are the days that local ales, lagers, and IPAs were solely handcrafted by your favorite town brewer. The world of craft beers now has a new helping hand that may revolutionize the industry for the better. Your next brew just might be generated with the help of artificial intelligence.
It all started down under when Deep Liquid, co-founded by Denham D'Silva, Dr. Jamie Sherrah, and Dr. Simon Lucey, released their first ever AI-generated beer, "The Rodney AI IPA." Now, these Aussies are taking their technology and talents to the southern United States, partnering with some of the Big Easy's best craft brewers. On June 20, Deep Liquid and their partners, Nola Brewing and New Bohemian Brewing, will be hosting a Launch Party to celebrate the AI-generated beer they came up with: the AI Blonde Ale.
What is Deep Liquid?
Deep Liquid had humble beginnings, with Denham D'Silva starting off with his own small business, Barossa Valley Brewing. Now the CEO of Deep Liquid, D'Silva admits, "I had started a craft brewery with a focus on quality. However, I soon realized awards don't make for a viable business. Independent craft brewers unable to scale were going to struggle to create the efficiencies needed to remain competitive. I feared for the fate of small producers like me, and the public, who benefit from a broad range of craft producers."
Previously a Regional VP for Merrill Lynch, D'Silva was all too aware of how consolidation could hit the world of craft brewers, with smaller breweries making easy targets for consolidation. With these concerns in mind, D'Silva happened to share a beer with Dr. Lucey, a fellow beer lover, with big ideas for where the industry might be able to go, presenting artificial intelligence as a key opportunity for craft brewing. Lucey contacted his colleague, Dr. Sherrah, who shared a love for beer with both men and had some further expertise on AI, and together, the three men founded Deep Liquid: a startup to help small and medium-sized brewers stay in the game and thrive against competitors with the help of artificial intelligence.
How Artificial Intelligence can Help Craft Brewers
Deep Liquid's main goal, above all else, is to give your local brewers a helping hand, not replace them. By removing the guesswork that usually eats up the time and labor of a craft brewer, Deep Liquid's AI optimizes the human resources involved in bringing your favorite brews to the table. In their mission to bolster the underdog, D'Silva's team has rightfully garnered support from all over the world, including a huge approval by AI pioneer Rodney Brooks, the creator of the Roomba and many other artificially intelligent inventions.
With his name on the first AI-generated beer, the Rodney AI IPA, Brooks says about Deep Liquid's mission, "I was excited by this project as it fits with what I am passionate about — creating AI applications that make our lives and jobs better. What I love about Deep Liquid is how their service doesn't seek to replace but serves humans," demonstrating how AI can be an asset to more than just the craft brewing industry.
According to Dr. Sherrah, "The brewers have told me the recipe benefited from the AI's ability to access millions of data points and dynamically integrate real time consumer feedback. What is very exciting is this has applications across many industries."
For this to work with "The Rodney AI IPA," customers were able to give feedback via a QR code on the label of the bottle. Using these reviews, Deep Liquid's AI was able tweak the recipe in real time, allowing the team to get "Rodney v2" out on the market 70% faster than usual.
Deep Liquid from Australia to New Orleans
Since the development and launch of "The Rodney AI IPA," Deep Liquid has been looking to help out more craft brewers, and they are now collaborating with New Orleans' very own Nola Brewing and New Bohemian Brewery. Together, these breweries have created an AI-generated blonde ale and a fruity IPA just in time for the Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (CVPR), happening in New Orleans this June.
Coinciding with this premier computer vision event, Deep Liquid is proud to release these two new beers: the AI:BL for Nola Brewing Company and the Hazy AI IPA at New Bohemian Brewery on June 20. Nola Brewing Company will be hosting a launch party, and all are welcome to taste what AI has to offer, combining artistry and technology in the best of ways. Feel free to join us for the event, and RSVP here!
