07. JUNE 2022 Louise Otto Data Analysis Serves up the Ideal Beer

One Data Brews In-House Beer

A group of One Data team members was on a mission: Use data analysis to identify the ideal beer name and brew a beverage that’s uniquely tailored to a very specific target audience. For a Bavarian-based company, beer brewing is more than a project—it’s a passion!

The idea originated with the data scientists at One Data: Various teams were invited to use their own approaches to develop the best possible beer for their colleagues. The project was by no means limited to data scientists, and members of all teams could participate.

Beer needs more than hops—it needs a lot of data

In the search for the optimal ingredients for the beer, data was acquired from Untappd, a rating platform for beers. This information included, for example, the name of the beer, its style and taste, plus details on which beverage is consumed by which groups of people at which location. Only beers that met the following criteria were eligible and deemed a good fit for the corporate culture of One Data: They had to appeal equally to all genders and be enjoyed as part of a social occasion.

„We’re pleased that we could support One Data and this unique project with our database. Louise Otto has already been given a handful of 5-star ratings on our platform.“

– Tom Maneschijn (Vice President Europe, Next Glass)

What’s in a name? Great sales, apparently. After the initial analyses, it became apparent that some beers with poor ratings and dubious quality are still big sellers. This could be due to an appealing name and good marketing. So, the teams quickly set themselves the additional challenge of finding the perfect beer name.

And with this we christen this beer… “Louise Otto”!

By combining NLP (Natural Language Processing) analysis—taking both text and semantics into account—with phonetic analysis, we determined which components made up the names of the top-rated beers. These included, for example, the number of words, syllables and vowels, or the sounds used (sound codes). This was achieved with our Data Product Builder One Data, which is used daily by our customers to manage complex data sets.

We defined our target audience as all genders in their mid-30s in the DACH region. We were brewing our beer for our own use and wanted it to appeal to our colleagues, so we used them as our audience blueprint.

Next, we developed an algorithm to suggest various beer names based on specified criteria (such as demographics, target group, or region). Based on these parameters, the algorithm recommended “Lisette Legere” first, and “Louise Otto” second. Yet the algorithm’s second choice quickly became our first: As the initiator of the first German women’s movement, Louise Otto really resonated with us.

That’s the name and taste decided—now it’s time to brew

In cooperation with a local brewery, One Data’s own beer was brewed, based on the company’s own Zwickel beer with additional hops. A total of 4,400 bottles of “Louise Otto” were filled.


Louise Otto is brewed at the Urban Chestnut Brewery.

„As soon as we heard about the project, we wanted to jump on board with One Data. After convincing the team at One Data of our brewing skills, we started working on the recipe for Louise Otto. Based on our in-house Zwickel beer, we brewed a light, hoppy pale ale, which is especially flavorful thanks to the lemony note of our Hallertau hops. We’re excited to see what happens next once the 4,400 bottles are empty!“

– Andreas Weber (Brewmaster, Urban Chestnut Brewing Company)

“Louise Otto” is very well received both internally and externally

Feedback has been good, both internally and externally. Although tastes do vary within teams, most of our employees like Louise Otto very much. We have also received only positive feedback from customers at events.

Louise Otto not only tastes great but is also a real conversation piece and is served exclusively at internal parties and customer events. The drink has been so well received that the company is already considering brewing another batch. Will the label and taste change again based on new data? All will be revealed!

Are you interested in sampling a bottle of Louise Otto? Simply attend one of our events and find out what your tastebuds have to say about it.


Louise Otto in action at one of our live events.

Special thanks to the great team of Magdalena Söldner, Magdalena Murr, Michele Cappetta, Sebastian Gombocz, Christian Franz, Wolfram Wege, Frank Stadler, Armin Arnold, Sebastian Wernicke, Stefan Rameseder, Reißner Michi and Andreas Böhm for bringing this unique project to life!

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