First 'Space Beer' Made With Astro-Barley Sold on Earth

FTA-
Apparently, there's not a lot of work to do on the International Space Station (ISS) these days. Who needs important scientific research anyway? Instead, some Russians and Japanese astronauts decided to grow some barley and make some home-brewed brew.

According to the Telegraph, Japan's Sapporo Breweries will sell six packs of the world's first "space beer," which was actually brewed on this planet, but uses barley grown in space, to select Earthlings who win a lottery. In all, 250 people will have the chance to purchase a pack of the beer, dubbed "Space Barley," which will sell for $115-a-pack or about $19-a-bottle. That's pricey, but when you're talking about a small, one-time batch, the cost becomes a simple case of supply and demand.

http://www.switched.com/2009/12/03/first-space-beer-made-with-astro-barley-sold-on-earth/

Kinda cool eh?

Kinda cool, yes... I'm actually more shocked that they had the room to grow enough barley to make nearly 1Bbl of beer... that's what, half an acre's worth?

i wonder if yeast ever flocculate in zero gravity...

talk amongst yourselves.

MrInternet said:

Kinda cool, yes... I'm actually more shocked that they had the room to grow enough barley to make nearly 1Bbl of beer... that's what, half an acre's worth?

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We're talking about 30 gallons of (probably) light lager that also has rice in the mix

They probably only need 30 lbs of barley to make a barrel.

According to this site (http://www.gardensofeden.org/04 Crop Yield Verification.htm) an acre of land produces 2,800 lbs of barley.

Whohoo. They took a handful of grain and threw that into the mix to justify marketing the beer as made with space grown barley.

Nowhere in that snippet does it elude that "space barley" was used exclusively. Nor does it indicate that the barley was even malted.

$19 a bottle. Pass.

Walker said:

We're talking about 30 gallons of (probably) light lager that also has rice in the mix

They probably only need 30 lbs of barley to make a barrel.

According to this site (http://www.gardensofeden.org/04 Crop Yield Verification.htm) an acre of land produces 2,800 lbs of barley.

Click to expand...

Ah, forgot this was probably a macro-style... that makes much more sense. I was figuring on 2-3lb/G grainbill like a more robust homebrew. Going with a 30lb grainbill, that still would have required 52 square yards of growing soil, if my math is right. just a little over 21 feet a side... not a small barley patch, especially on a space station, eh? I'd have to see pictures....

it also doesn't say specifically that they used ONLY space barley for this. It might be 29 lbs of earth barley and 1 lb of space barley.

Hang on... they brewed a lot more than 1 barrel. 250 people can buy a 6 pack, plus they have already given out samples and what not.

That's a couple hundred gallons of the stuff, isn't it?

Walker said:

Hang on... they brewed a lot more than 1 barrel. 250 people can buy a 6 pack, plus they have already given out samples and what not.

That's a couple hundred gallons of the stuff, isn't it?

Click to expand...

I was just going off of 250 bottles!!! Woops! not my day for math...

250 6-packs, which is (250/4 = ~63) cases, which is ~28 batches, which is is ~140G... you're right, more like 4.5Bbl. That gives us a minimum 140lb grainbill for a light lager, which is 5 times the size I thought previously... that's a LOAD of barley in cramped quarters, I definitely need to see the fine print.

found some more info...BTW All proceeds will go to an educational science charity for Japanese children.

In collaboration with Dr. Sugimoto, Associate Professor, (Speciality" Cytomolecular Biochemistry) of the Research Institute for Bioresources, Okayama University (Kurashiki City, "Okayama University) and the Institute of Biomedical Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences", Sapporo Breweries, Ltd. (Head office: Tokyo; President: Masaru Fukunaga) test brewed the first-in-the world beer brewed from the seedlings of barleycorn that traveled the space, "SAPPORO Space Barley." Most of the only 100 litters of brewed beer will be used for experiments, but we would like to offer part of the beer for tasting events to be held at six brewries in Japan (Hokkaido, Sendai, Nasu, Chiba, Shizuoka and Shinkyushu,) inviting 60 persons (30 pairs) of customers.
The beer was brewed as part of the joint research with Okayama University conducted to exploit possibilities of barleycorn for beer in space, "Studies of Impact of Extreme Environmental Stresses on Barley" and uses 100% of the "seedlings of barleycorn that traveled the space."
Regarding the malt used for the beer, seeds of "Haruna Nijo," beer barley developed by Sapporo Breweries that stayed in space for five months in the Russian Research Modules of the International Space Station were broght back to earth, cultivated at our experimental field of Bioresearch and Development Department at our Gunma Plant and successfully harvested in this May.
We plan to offer opportunities for the invited guests to taste "Space Barley," be awarded the certificate of tasting and tour the breweries.
Next year, in addition to this series of events, we also plan to hold a "space class" and an event to "roast and taste barley tea" for local children at these breweries by taking advantage of the "seedlings of barleycorn that traveled the space" still under cultivation.
Sapporo Breweries hopes to contribute to awareness-raising about the space as well as the advancement of space science and children's education and continue to pursue possibilities of food and drink in space.
<About the test brewed beer>
1. Product name:SAPPORO Space Barley
2. Material:Malt, hops
3. Content features:100% use of the he seedlings of barleycorn that traveled the space for five months
Alcoholic content: 5.5%
4. Volume/Number per package:330ml in a one-way bottle
5. Design:A chic design with Navy blue graduation representing the space set with stars, featuring the product name like a shooting star. Barley is an English word.
6. Manufacturing plant:Nasu Breweries, Sapporo Breweries

this is awesome. expensive...but awesome.

Well, that makes a little morse sense. The barley was not grown in space according to that text... Some seeds just spent some time there, came back earth, was planted, harvestedn malted, and made into beer.

Something still doesn't add up though. The text said "100 liters" were brewed. That's a little over 25 gallons. How the hell did they manage to get 250 6-packs out of that?

i don't see six pack anywhere it says pack then the later text defines package (pack?) as one 330 ml bottle.....

edit: 2. Details
* Factory tour
* Presentation on "barleycorn that traveled the space"
* Toast with the first-in-the-world "Space Barley"
* Awarding the "tasting certificate of Space Barley"
Note: The program is about two hours.
3. Fee
Free of charge (except transportation expenses to be born by the guests)
4. Number of the guests invited 5 pairs (10 persons) for each breweries
5. Application method
Please complete the information on a postcard, and mail it to the address below:
[Address]
"Space Barley tasting event" secretariat, post-office box 211, Tokyo Nihonbashi Post Office, 103-8691
[Information required]
Note: You are not eligible for the lottery if the information is incomplete.
(1) Name of the applicant (2) Address of the applicant (3) Effective contact telephone number
(4) Age of the applicant (5) Name of the companion (6) Age of the companion
(7) Name of the plant where the event you want to participate in is held
[Application conditions]
Both the applicant and his/her companion must be residents in Japan and be aged 20 years or older.
[Handling of personal information]
The personal information provided by you will be used only for the purposes of the events including contact, delivery and statistics.
[Websites]
Information is available at the websites of individual breweries: http:www.sapporobeer.jp
6. Application deadline
Applications must be received by December 15, 2008 (Mon.)

this was last year ???