Beer Selector: AKA who has free time to progam this?

[bad coffee]

So I'm chatting with a friend tonight about beer. He's a beer drinker, but doesn't know much about different beers. He knows what he's tried and liked, and what he has tried and didn't like. I'm looking for a tool that lets someone pick different attributes to beer and the program return a list of matches.

So someone says "I like light, easy drinking, smooth, not bitter beers" and the program returns a list like:
Beers you might like: Bohemian Pilsner. (insert style notes here.)For example: Budweiser, Miller Light.
Beers that might push your intrest: Kolsch (style notes.): Example: Gaffel Kolsch. Pilsner (style notes.): Pilsner Urquell.
Beers you should avoid: IPA (style notes) Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, ect. Stouts (notes): Guinness, Murphy's, etc.

Has anyone seen anything like this? I don't have the programming knowledge for it, but I bet it would make a great tool for someone trying to 'venture out' into the craft beer world.

What says you?
B

 

[biochemedic]

Not that I can contribute to any programming, but I think this sounds neat...kind of like a "genome project" for beer.
Neat or not, I think just putting together the basic data sounds daunting, nevermind the progamming!

 

[DaveMcPhee]

If you paid me I'd be willing to do the research

 

[a10t2]

The programming would be pretty minimal, it's the data entry that would take forever. If you can find someone who's willing to rank each beer on its attributes (bitterness, roastiness, mouthfeel, hop flavor, maltiness, etc.) on a 0-100 scale, a fuzzy algorithm that would compare each beer to the desired profile would be easy.

 

[remilard]

Beer is more nuanced than that. What he needs is a knowledgeable bartender, shop clerk or friend. Alternately he can just put in the hours and figure it out for himself.

 

[senorswiss]

It might be more straight forward to input actual beers that one likes rather than descriptions / flavors, but I like the idea. Just a thought...

 

[FiddleTilDeath]

If someone is actively trying to expand their beer horizons wouldn't it be silly to tell them to stay away from certain styles?

 

[fugazzi]

It's also interesting to note that drinking different beers together will affect the taste. Next time he's tasting, preface each new beer with a swig of Arrogant Bastard or something. That'll get him thinking that the IPA isn't so bad after all.

 

[JJL]

I don't think the programming would be all that complicated. Actually, you could probably build it in Excel or Access. You're really just looking to build a large database of Beers and their attributes. I'm sure a programmer could add a bunch of bells and whistles and pretty it up a bit, but the fuctional part of your project isn't that complex. It's mostly just a lot of data entry.

The hard part is building the list of attributes and beers. If you want to do this right, you would need to pick the important characteristics of beer in general, such as hop notes, malt notes, color, abv, etc. Then develop a rating system for each attribute, and a key that explains your rating system. Then you assemble your list of beers, and assign each beer a rating on each attribute. After that, it's just data entry and some minimal programming.

 

[Sigafoos]

Pandora for beer. I like it.

'We recommended this beer based on your like of: mild malt aroma, aggressive dry hopping, moderate rye character.'

Just keep thumbs upping til you wake up in the morning with a massive headache.

 

[Edcculus]

Here is your best place to start :BJCP style guidelines. .

It gives the vital statistics (OG, FG, IBU, ABV and SRM) for each style.

 

[JJL]

Here is your best place to start :BJCP style guidelines. .

It gives the vital statistics (OG, FG, IBU, ABV and SRM) for each style.

This is what I had running through my head as well when I read this. Just a breakdown of the BJCP style guidelines. I'm actually kind of surprised that the BJCP doesn't already have something like what the OP is talking about on their website. Or maybe they do.