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Space beer headed for zero gravity bar

World's first beer to be certified for space consumption will undergo tests in weightlessness to confirm its drinkability.

By Space.comTue, Sep 28 2010 at 5:47 PM EST
 11

Zero Gravity Corporation's modified Boeing aircraft BREWED FOR SPACE: Testing for the new space beer is set to begin in November on board Zero Gravity Corporation's modified Boeing aircraft. (Photo: Zero Gravity Corporation)
It may not come in time for Oktoberfest, but the world's first beer to be certified for consumption in space will soon undergo tests in weightlessness to see if it is brewed with the right stuff.
 
Astronauts4Hire, a nonprofit space research corporation, will conduct the tests on an Australian beer that has been brewed specifically for easy drinking in both microgravity environments, as well as here on Earth.
 
The beer was produced as a joint venture between Saber Astronautics Australia, a new space engineering firm, and the Australian 4 Pines Brewing Company, located in Manly, a suburb of northern Sydney.
 
The development of space beer is intended to coincide with the burgeoning space tourism industry, and as the market expands, industry leaders are anticipating a demand for such products.
 
So how do you test space beer without a rocket? Drink it, of course.
 
Testing for the new space beer is set to begin in November on board Zero Gravity Corporation's modified Boeing aircraft, which flies a series of parabolic arcs that simulate environments of weightlessness.
 
An Astronauts4Hire flight member will act as the primary flight operator. The researcher will perform various experiments — such as sample the beer during weightless parabolas — and record biometric data on body temperature, heart rate and blood alcohol content.
 
Data will also be collected on the taste of the beverage and its drinkability during weightlessness.
 
This will be the first in a series of similar test flights that will be required to qualify the brew for consumption in space. The project is funded in part by 4 Pines Brewing Company's sales on Earth.
 
This isn't the first time that beer and space have met.
 
In 2006, the Japanese brewery Sapporo teamed up with Okayama University in Okayama, Japan, and the Russian Academy of Sciences, headquartered in Moscow, to create a special brand of limited space beer.
 
The brew, called Space Barley, was prepared using barley grown from seeds that had flown for five months on the International Space Station.
 
In the past, NASA has also sponsored studies on space beer, and whether or not the popular beverage can be brewed in space. Under current policies, however, alcohol remains forbidden on the International Space Station.
 
One study, done in conjunction with the University of Colorado, found some puzzling results about how yeast ferments in microgravity environments. The researchers, who announced their findings in 2001, discovered that yeast fermented with greater efficiency in their sample of space beer, making it more alcoholic.
 
Other studies have examined the type of container that would be needed to maintain the drink's carbonation in spite of the extreme pressure and temperature changes that accompany a ride into space.
 
This article was reprinted with permission from SPACE.com.
 
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anonymous
have fun 09/30/2010 11:13 AM

"series of parabolic arcs"...pretty sure NASA does/did this to test weightlessness as well, called it the "vomit comet". let's add beer to the mix and see what happens.....

anonymous
Arbuthnot 09/30/2010 06:55 AM

well, if you drink proper ale not fizzy water then it doesn't matter as it isn't fizzy!

anonymous
hellonathan 09/30/2010 00:15 AM

It's no fun. Try drinking a beer then hanging upside-down in a tree and doing a burp.

anonymous
Byron 09/29/2010 22:33 PM

Give me another space-beer, Gleep Glop!

anonymous
DrunkMunki 09/29/2010 19:47 PM

science is fun, check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXsvy2tBJlU

anonymous
yarohunting 09/29/2010 14:24 PM

Well this outta shut up the "Why do we have to go to space?!" crowd.

Shut up, quit crying, and drink your space beer.

anonymous
Northwester 09/29/2010 14:20 PM

I'm certainly not a physics major but I'm fairly certain "zero gravity" and "pressure" have little to do with each other...or beer.

anonymous
Ashleth 09/29/2010 14:21 PM

It is a simple problem:

CO2 is lighter than the atmosphere so it goes 'up' (against gravity). When there is no 'up' it goes everywhere. So any carbonated beverage is a potential foam bomb if it gets loose.

Next problem is they use either basically drink pouches with straws, which if pressurized would be little fire hoses, shooting expanding foam (randomly escaping CO2). Or what's similar to a dentist's water irrigation system, but again you are shooting carbonated fluid which.... More

anonymous
PK 09/30/2010 20:01 PM

CO2 is not the only gas know to be used to carbonate beer. There are some successful examples using nitrogen that actually have finer and nicer bubbles. They will obviously be a lesser problem. Basically anything that doesn't oxidize the beer can be tried for the 'carbonation' effect, gases are tasteless and as long as they don't stink.....
Would be interesting how they sort the foaming issue out.

anonymous
MoRdAnTlY [Mr. Wolf '91 - '10] 10/01/2010 14:24 PM

Nitrogen is 80 times less soluble in beer than carbon dioxide; thus it is merely used for long-run pours where high pressure is needed to dispense or for stouts and porters. One carbonates the beer with pure co2 to the prescribed level, then switches the N2 to push it through the line.

anonymous
Onard 09/29/2010 14:18 PM

Space Beer. Helping ugly astronauts get laid since 2010.

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