BetterBeerBlog

Beer has played a more important role in the development of human history than most people even realize. Some would argue that learning to brew beer from cultivated barley transformed our ancestors from wandering hunters and gatherers into settling down and becoming farmers and raising animals. After all, you can’t grow barley and brew beer if you’re constantly on the move. Who knows how the course of American history would have run had the Puritans, who sailed to the New World escaping religious persecution, had not run out of beer at Plymouth rock.

It’s no surprise to me then to have heard about a beer brewed from barley and corn grown on the International Space Station. Aptly named Space Barley, this new brew is the result from the collaboration between the Russian Academy of Sciences, a Japanese University and the Japanese brewery Sapporo. Barley now joins wheat, lettuce and peas as the few plants to have been successfully grown in space.

Unfortunately this beer is not for sale. Brewed in very limited quantities, this beer will be available for tasting by a select few. Unfortunately, I have no idea how to get on this list. I’m sure it’ll taste marginally better than Sapporo’s flagship “black can” lager but it’s interesting nonetheless.

I’m sure the idea to brew a beer from space grown grains was a lark that someone, someplace, in an influential position took seriously. But I think it speaks to the understated power of beer as the beverage of choice for explorers. This is the new Tang, my friends. Beer will probably be the first alcoholic beverage we offer any extraterrestrials as a sign of peace.

In any event, here is the link to the video I found. Drink long and prosper.

This entry was posted on Friday, December 5th, 2008 at 3:39 pm and is filed under Fun Stuff, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.