Trendy beer names, invented by neural network

I train neural networks, which are a type of machine learning algorithm that look at example data and learn to generate more like it. There’s little I have to do other than present a neural network with examples to look at, and it deduces its own rules, often applying them in weird and unexpected ways. Just based on what it sees in the training data, a neural network can generate recipes, names of metal bands, or names of kittens.

Earlier, I trained a neural network to generate names of craft beers, thanks to Ryan Mandelbaum of Gizmodo, who inspired this project, and Andy Haraldson who extracted hundreds of thousands of beer names from BeerAdvocate.com. I trained it separately on beer names from different categories, and soon it had figured out to produce distinctive types, including:

Stouts:

Shunkall

Midnight Shale

Spulgican’s Chocolate Coconut Pamper



IPAs:

Yampy

Dang River

Borb!

A bunch of semi-plausible but nonexistent beers resulted. Then I heard from Old Nation Brewing in Williamston, Michigan, who were almost finished brewing a new beer, but still hadn’t managed to find a name for it.

They explained what kinds of keywords they were looking for: Juice, haze, New England, Vermont, citra, Belgium, spicy, clove, saison, farmhouse, “all these trendy new hazy IPA names”. I searched my database for any beer names having to do with these keywords, and threw them all into the mix for the neural network. It worked. But before I share with you the name they chose, let me first share: the rejects.

Now, not all of these were terrible. Although some of them definitely were.

To get a sense of what was in the dataset, let’s start with the lowest-creativity output setting. These are the beer names that the neural network felt best exemplified the original dataset. As you can see, there are a lot of saisons. There’s also a lot of French, although not so many examples that the neural network ever quite got the hang of French articles (I sympathize).

Saison De La Saison

Saison De Saison

Saison Du Saison

Saison De Le Petite Saison

Farmhouse Saison De L'Imperial Saison

Chardonnay Barrel Aged Saison De Saison

Saison De La Barrel Aged Saison

Barrel Aged Saison De La Saison

Saison De La Series

Saison D'Ete

Saison De L'Autimne

Saison Du Ferme

Saison De La Lemons

Saison Du Beer

Saison Du Bier

Saison Du Bear

Saison Du Farmer

Saison De Man

Saison De Mountain

Saison Du Chard

Saison Du Pant

Saison De Life

Saison De La Mort

Monkey Free Stand Saison

At a higher creativity level, we see more farms and tables (and oddly, monkeys). The French, if anything, gets more questionable. The quality of names has maybe - maybe improved. And they’ve somehow ended up spookier.

Sunshine Muster Saison

Stick Lake

Rock The Sun Saison

Black Bot Saison

Farmer’s Blend

Sunny Farm

French Saison De Pants

Saison Du Liver

Winter Monkey

Saison Du Pies

Field Peach Saison

Friends Lich Saison

Primitia

Molassic Saison

Strange Biere De Table Saison

Saison Du Le Pencher

Say The Table

Forest Monk

Saison De Chine

Summer Death

Creeping North Saison

Saison De Boo

Spring The Dead Saison

Series De Sucker Saison

Firetementus Monkey Saison

Saison De Lo Parpy

Saison Du Carl Saison

At the next-highest creativity level, the good names have gotten better, and the bad names have gotten a lot worse. Oddly, although it doesn’t explicitly appear in the dataset, the neural network has inferred the existence, and importance, of chard. Some of these look like they could be My Little Ponies.

Fongelmorenda

Storm Fink

Silent Plow

Side Road #1

Speltranoux

Winter Blood

Star Dance

Dandarina

Britched Rye Saison

Bomble Saison

Side Creek Saison

A Shit Farmhouse Ale

Red Suck Mas Saison

Dark Grave Saison

Farm Fight

Belgian Chard

Five Bool

Brown Hibiscus

Vintumbland

Farm Stone

Hunking Of Mist

Barrel Aged Clander

Friend Saison Fromp

Fleur De Celloquence

Forress Crogion’s Swill Saison

At an even higher creativity setting, the neural network’s unpredictability increases. It begins making up more words. It begins swearing. It starts taking liberties with English, as well as French, grammar. Old Nation Brewing chose a name from this creativity level.

Summer Dangs Saison

Flasha

Plaraggina

Farmen’s Are No. 10

Ginger Mauustic Saison

La Barrel Toee Saison

Flopphive

Ixpicy

Touranhome

The Slow Ale

From The To

Don’t The Mountain

Pogle Voe

Love Mutty Mab Farmhouse Ale

Kreathertag

Haburia

Grapecart

Farmer Lure

Poply Bitch

Hoepolo

S Mocket

Clothberry Ale

Speciel Farmhouse Ale

Green The Wosk

Rooly Ganger Dry-Hopped Clow

Ride City Saison

Series: Barrel Oged In Ermeds’s Oit Bittirges

Burcumber Jane Rad

Sunshine Bear Chroee

The Thangbaile

Daving Of Du-Shandburs

Fucksing Pear Farmhouse Ale

Rednock

White Bunch

Over Hoppy Trick Saison

The Sliger

At this highest creativity setting, I stopped. Perhaps you can understand why.

ChiphooolBoi

Nerlious

Mayycone

Funky Ever

varumper

You

Saison De Mage

Clushing

Fleur Dull?

Beoobegie Nard

Gel Mar

Blick Disc Saison

Barrel Aged Flaribrest

Stutty Rye

Undonchop

Plop Aged

The Sprong

Greenhunke

Mal?

Saison De Slushie

The Atterasin’s Hoot

Double It

Jackal

Runt

Pigzelia

Ectel Goat

Hurid'r Gobfin

Rustic On Oats

4h Finer

Petit Pock

Folle Belly'ss

Attrepid Ghost Doirry-Fermier

Yulla De Abadma Dank Your Sromb

King Recerd New England Blend Series renkip Ensishp Earthsseo The Oake

So, what did Old Nation Brewing finally choose? I introduce to you the very first beer named by a neural network:

The Fine Stranger

Old Nation is pleased to introduce The Fine Stranger! This unique beer is the latest in the New Orthodox Series of beers. A blend of Old World and New, The Fine Stranger combines a strong, peppery, fruity Belgian Saison yeast strain with the low-bitterness/high-flavor hop goodness of the New England style. We added a special hop blend of Mandarina Bavaria and Vic’s Secret in the boil and double dry-hopped it as well. The result is a slightly peppery, fruity hopped beer with the characteristic New England Haze that New Orthodox beers are known for.

Available now if you’re lucky enough to be able to shop for beer in Michigan.

And actually, I DID try one notch higher on the temperature/creativity setting. They’re very weird. Sign up here and I’ll email them to you.

Also: POLL! I’m collecting names of Halloween costumes for training a future neural network. Enter as many as you like (no email address required).