A beer brewed with the help of AI, and 40 years of Sam Adams
Everyone is talking about artificial intelligence these days, though if you’ve ever gotten AI suggestions when writing an email, you know there are still some bugs to be worked out.
It was with a cautious approach that Night Shift Brewing began experimenting with AI in 2022, looking to see what artificial intelligence could (and would) do when creating a new beer.
While the Night Shift team was skeptical, head brewer Joe Mashburn realized the machines may be onto something when, after spending countless hours perfecting the ideal chloride-tosulfite ratio for IPAs, chatGPT spit out a very similar ratio in seconds. Mashburn did have to make a few tweaks, but eventually a new beer, which the humans dubbed AI-P-A, was born.
AI-P-A is now on version 3.0, and this one gives off “pure West Coast vibes” and resinous pine and grapefruit notes. The beer’s label, too, was designed with the help of AI, with the artwork generated by the program Midjourney, and Night Shift’s design team turning it into a beer label.
Night Shift is having a party to celebrate the release, and yes, robots will be involved. On March 7, Night Shift is hosting a “Tech on Tap” night from 5 to 7 p.m. at its Everett taproom, featuring AI-P-A as well as robots from Mass Robotics. Because the future is now, a robot arm will serve can pours of the beer.
Samuel Adams 40th anniversary beer festival
It’s both easy and difficult to believe that Boston Beer Co., the makers of Samuel Adams, turns 40 this year.
At least to this writer, craft beer still seems like it popped up a couple of years ago; simultaneously, pioneers like Harpoon, Sierra Nevada, and Sam seem like they’ve been around forever.
Samuel Adams is celebrating its 1984 founding this week, a 40th-anniversary beer festival at the company’s original Jamaica Plain brewery on Saturday, March 2, from noon to 5 p.m. The festival will feature fan-favorite throwback beers, live music, and food pop-ups from nearby small businesses. In addition, attendees paying for a “Super Fan” tour experience will be guided by none other than Boston Beer founder and brewer Jim Koch himself. A VIP session will guide drinkers through some exclusive barrelaged beers, including a collaboration with Boston Harbor Distillery’s Rhonda Kallman, who helped Koch cofound Boston Beer Co. 40 years earlier.
“Several memories stand out from the early days,” says Koch. “It’s still stunning to think we went from walking the streets of Boston going bar-to-bar with a briefcase full of Boston Lager in 1984, to landing that very same beer in the White House fridge in 1986.
“We can’t wait to see what the next 40 years of craft beer have in store.”
Samuel Adams’ 40th anniversary session will feature a general session as well. Tickets can be purchased at samadamsbostonbrewery.com/events.