Overview
Sometimes, drinking beer can be a bit of a lucky dip: one person's favourite tasty ale or refreshing lager is another's least-preferred brew. But what if you could down a yeasty beverage that you were guaranteed to like, such as a tipple that had been crafted to suit your specific, distinctive tastes?
Following in the footsteps of gastronomy wizards Bompas and Parr and their bespoke cocktails tailored to your DNA, London's Meantime Brewing Company are doing the same thing with beer. Meantime Bespoke uses a saliva sample to assess whether your tastebuds prefer the sweet or bitter side of things, with personal genetics company 23andMe probing down to the genetic and hereditary levels. Then, the service maps out a flavour profile for what should you be favourite drink (thanks science!). Once Meantime has come up with a proposed style of beer, you get to head into the brewery to help make your unique tipple come to fruition. Yep, that's the fun part — other than the drinking.
Sounds like the solution to making a wrong choice at the bottle-o or having to stomach whatever beer your mate bought off the tap, doesn't it? Yes, but it comes at a very hefty price. Expect to pay a minimum of £25,000 for 12 hectolitres, or the equivalent to over 2000 pints. The fee also includes a course on the brewing process, and — although this isn't officially stated — the knowledge that you've spent a whole lot of money to ensure that your next drink is just right.
Via Mental Floss.