Researchers Test Space Beer

With space tourism becoming a real possibility in the near future, brewers are trying to figure out how to provide a good beer in space. To this end, a non-profit space research corporation Astronauts4Hire will begin testing an Australian brew created to be enjoyed in microgravity. From the article: "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."

Comments

Re:Fermenting in space?

[compro01]

200L of CO2 wouldn't be a huge problem. An average human produces more than twice that every day.

Typical Aussies

[muphin]

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.
Typical aussies :) i live near Manly and never seen or heard of Australian 4 Pines Brewing Company... publicity stunt?

"Packing for Mars" says no...

[dpbsmith]

I found Mary Roach's Packing for Mars to be fascinating, informative, and it made me ROFLMAO about every third page.

On page 296 she writes "Beer is a no-fly, because without gravity, carbonation bubbles don't rise to the surface. 'You just get a foamy froth,' says Bourland. He says Coke spent $450,000 developing a zero-gravity dispenser, only to be undone by biology. Since bubbles also don't rise to the top of a stomach, the astronauts had trouble burping. 'Often a burp is accompanied by a liquid spray,' Bourland adds."

So we must assume that Astronauts4Hire have either not read the book, or didn't want to let the facts spoil their publicity ploy.

Mary Roach described herself on NPR as "having the mind of a twelve-year-old boy." The book is indescribably marvelous to those of us who are similarly gifted with youthful imagination.