AI duels human in Saskatoon beer brewing competition

9 Mile Legacy Brewing set out to see if artificial intelligence (AI) can make better beer.

The brewery asked AI software, ChatGPT, to create a Gose recipe using local Saskatoon ingredients.

“It came up with a Saskatoon berry Gose,” Luke Clark, 9 Mile’s assistant brewer, told CTV News.

But the recipe needed a human touch.

“The first couple tries, it wanted to make a 30-40 per cent beer and that wasn’t quite right. So we tried again, tried again and eventually it came up with something we could use,” Clark said.

Garrett Pederson, the co-owner of 9 Mile, battled the robot’s beer with his own Gose recipe — incorporating rhubarb and ginger.

“I came up with my own recipe by doing my own research, skills and experience,” Pederson said.

On Friday, 9 Mile hosted a blind taste test where customers voted for their favourite beer online.

Of the 100 customers who virtually voted in the beer competition, 60 per cent sided with ChatGPT.

Even though the AI came out on top, 9 Mile isn’t seeing any losers in this competition. Instead, Pederson sees the technology as an asset.

“I think it has the potential to be a really cool tool that we can use to streamline how we do business,” Pederson said.

“It’s going to cut out some of the leg work that normally you do. You come up with a concept and put the human touch on it, and you can get a really cool result.”