Bespoke beer brewed according to your DNA

A London brewery is about to begin offering the ultimate in personalised drinks, a beer brewed according to your own DNA profile.

The Meantime Brewing Company in Greenwich, east London, says its new ultra-personalised service, designing a product to suit a particular person's palate, is a world first.

"What we looked at doing was trying to create a beer where we could produce a beer specifically to that person. So looking at their DNA to understand the taste profile of the individual to then say OK, you particularly identify bitter flavours, sweet flavours what have you and then produce a beer which has that characteristic, so you would ultimately like that beer and it would be a great beer to taste and it would suit your taste buds perfectly," said Meantime Brewing's brewmaster Ciaran Giblin.

As part of the £25,000 ($30,000 USD) exclusive package, clients will have the DNA in a sample of their spittle analysed by personal genetics company 23andMe, searching for variations in the oral taste receptor gene, TAS2R38.

That determines the individual's ability to detect propylthiouracil - a chemical similar to the bitter compounds found in cabbage, raw broccoli, coffee tonic water and certain dark beers.

Tried and tested methods of brewing then take over, varying the types and treatments of malted barley, hops, yeast and water - to produce the perfect pint.

"It's about interpreting all these different facets to bring it together to produce one beer that someone is going to like. So it's a complex process. It's not a simple case of just putting it all in together and off it goes. There's lots of elements that we've got to draw in together to focus on in order to deliver the beer that is perfect for someone to drink," Giblin said.

The package includes the chance to create more than the beer, working with a creative team to name the drink, come up with the label and even design the glass to drink it from.

"You have influence on what the label looks like, on what the taste of the beer looks like. You can even get a glass perfectly formed to your hand so you can enjoy it in the perfect way. A glass can influence the flavour of the beer as well. So it really ticks off every box that you go through and then you get to share it with friends or if you're a business or wherever you go," according to Meantime Brewing's Marketing Director Richard Myers.

The brewing industry has seen an explosion in the growth of craft breweries in the last decade but Meantime Brewing believe they can now connect with their customers in a way no other can.

"This enables us to really offer something completely different that no-one else can actually offer to their customers or consumers by saying this is a beer we're making because this is what your DNA tells us you like in terms of flavours and we can bring that to you."

The package also includes a minimum of 12 hectolitres of your own unique brew, equivalent to more than 2,000 pints. — Reuters