Philadelphia is a proud city of firsts, and now we can lay claim to the first drone-assisted beer.
Dock Street Brewery, one of the country's first post-Prohibition craft microbreweries, has partnered with Point Breeze neighbor Exyn Technologies on the Dock Street Swarm Intelligence Pale Ale.
Last spring, Dock Street expanded operations from its Cedar Park location to a warehouse at 2118 Washington Avenue, conveniently located next to Exyn, which develops autonomous aerial robot systems.
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Exyn's team struck up a friendship with Dock Street founder Rosemarie Certo and company, leading to a logical marriage of expertise.
"The Exyn team (drone in tow) road-tripped over to do a prototype at Dock Street West, our West Philly location, almost a year before opening Dock Street South, so we were ready to go with a concept and vision as soon as we got the new brewery set up," Dock Street said in a statement.
Exyn used its A3R model to serve as the assistant brewer for Swarm Intelligence Pale Ale (4.9% ABV 40 IBU), whose label is a multispectral photo captured by the drone at the Dock Street South facility.
Here's a video of the brewing process assisted by the Exyn drone.
"Dock Street has always been motivated by innovation and being ahead of the curve – we started our craft brewery in 1985, well before the microbrewery revolution hit the rest of the country," the brewery said. "The way we see it, it's only a matter of time before drones will be everywhere in every sector, but this is the first known collab where a drone has actively contributed to the brew process."
Swarm Intelligence is a grain bill paired with local orange blossom honey and repeatedly hopped with Ekuanot and Chinook. It's dry hopped with Ekuanot, Chinook and Mosaic.
Dock Street Swarm Intelligence Pale Ale will be released on Tuesday, Jan. 28.