The Co-Production of American Craft Brewing; Sous, an Ingredient Substitution and Task Scheduling Tool

Both the thesis project and STS research paper detailed below explore the challenges
faced and technical solutions used in the creation and preparation of local food and beverages.
The thesis project below attempts to solve challenges faced by chefs attempting to create full
meals at home by providing them tools to help them experiment with new flavors and for time
management in the kitchen. The STS research paper looks into what social, technical, and
economic factors have led to American craft beer manufacturers being able to successfully
compete with national beer producers. This success is in no small part due to craft beer
manufacturers successfully using modern digital tools like IOT sensors and production line
automation to be able to experiment with new flavors or recreate existing flavors with limited
ingredient options. Craft brewers often get their start as home brewers, which means that
enabling people to experiment and learn cooking skills in the home can lead to an environment
where people pursue local food and beverage production as their profession. Sous seeks to give
home chefs greater ability to experiment with new recipes or adapt existing recipes with new
ingredients by providing them knowledge about potential ingredient substitutions and helping
them maintain proper kitchen workflow. As society becomes more digitized and physically
transient, Americans are beginning to long for a sense of place and belonging that they perhaps
feel like is missing from their daily lives, a desire that is well met both by consuming and
producing local food and beverages.