If anyone is interested in a start-up[1] that works with beer, shoot me an email[2]! My company builds flavor profiling and quality control tools for craft beverage producers using machine learning, sensory science, and analytical chemistry.

[1] www.gastrograph.com

[2] JasonCEC [at] gastrograph [dot] com

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I believe that the growth in artisan firms is part of the trend towards affordable luxury goods, where individuals who find products that better match their preferences at nearly the same cost (not price^), become brand or product loyalists - they'll continue purchasing and consuming that product until it fails them (quality control) or their preferences change (which happens quite often, usually as a result of experience - we build flavor profiling tools to track and re-target these individuals).

^ example: the average craft beer may cost ~2x as much as Bud or Natural Light, but contains >2x alcohol by volume.