A beer made from hops that spent nearly three days orbiting the Earth on board SpaceX’s Inspiration4 all-civilian space mission has gone on sale.
Samuel Adams Brewery in Boston sent 66lb of hops up into space with the Inspiration4 crew on September 15, and has turned them into ‘Space Craft IPA’.
The tipple produced from the space hops will cost $22.33 (£16.39) for a four pack – marking the two days, 23 hours, and 3 minutes they spent in space – and is available to pre-order now, before it goes on sale from November 16.
The limited run IPA is only on sale in the US, and is said to have notes of passionfruit, guava, and grapefruit, but with the ‘classic bitterness of a craft beer’.
A beer made from hops that spent nearly three days orbiting the Earth, on a SpaceX capsule with the first all civilian space mission, is available to pre-order
The Inspiration4 astronauts, led by billionaire Jared Isaacman, launched on a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule from Florida on September 15, and splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean three days later
In a description on its website, Samuel Adams explained: ‘An out-of-this world IPA made with Orbited Hops from Inspiration4, the first-ever-all-civilian space mission.
‘The 66lbs of Citra and Mosaic orbited hops landed right in this stellar west-coast style IPA, creating a piney and tropical beer.
‘Firm bitterness, with generous tropical notes like grapefruit, guava, and passionfruit co-pilot with piney and resiny hop aromas.’
The Boston-based company announced Space Craft last month, and says it will be available from the Sam Adams’ Boston Brewery, Boston Taproom and Cincinnati Taproom, as well as online in the US through ‘Give Them Beer’.
The limited run IPA is only on sale in the US, and is said to have notes of passionfruit, guava, and grapefruit, but with the ‘classic bitterness of a craft beer’
It turned to social media to find a name for the beer, and had more than 5,000 entries – finally settling on Space Craft, picked with help from the Inspiration4 crew, led by billionaire Jared Isaacman.
Isaacman responded to the pre-sale announcement on Twitter by saying: ‘I’m in,’ with a clinking beer mug emoji.
He was joined in orbit by ex-NASA astronaut candidate Sian Proctor, childhood bone cancer survivor Hayley Arceneaux, and Air Force veteran Chris Sembroski.
Inspiration4 surpassed its $200 million fundraising target, with a total of $239,180,457 raised to date.
As well as $100,000 from Samual Adams, Isaacman contributed $125 million to the fundraising campaign and SpaceX founder Elon Musk pledged $50 million.
Isaacman responded to the pre-sale announcement on Twitter by saying: ‘I’m in,’ with a clinking beer mug emoji
The Inspiration4 crew spent nearly three days in space. Seen here (from left to right) are Jared Isaacman, Hayley Arceneaux, Chris Sembroski and Sian Proctor on board the Crew Dragon module
Samuel Adams isn’t the only beer firm looking beyond our planet.
Budweiser has also revealed ambitious plans to brew beer in space for future colonists on Mars.
The company has already sent several batches of barley to the International Space Station to understand how the brewing process could take place in space.
‘Budweiser is always pushing the boundaries of innovation and we are inspired by the collective American Dream to get to Mars,’ said Ricardo Marques, vice president, Budweiser back in 2017.
‘We are excited to begin our research to brew beer for the red planet.’
SPACEX CREW DRAGON CAPSULE MEASURES 20FT AND CAN CARRY 7 ASTRONAUTS AT A TIME
The March 2 test, the first launch of U.S. astronauts from U.S. soil in eight years, will inform the system design and operations (Artist’s impression)
The capsule measures about 20 feet tall by 12 feet in diameter, and will carry up to 7 astronauts at a time.
The Crew Dragon features an advanced emergency escape system (which was tested earlier this year) to swiftly carry astronauts to safety if something were to go wrong, experiencing about the same G-forces as a ride at Disneyland.
It also has an Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) that provides a comfortable and safe environment for crew members.
Crew Dragon’s displays will provide real-time information on the state of the spacecraft’s capabilities, showing everything from Dragon’s position in space, to possible destinations, to the environment on board.
Those CRS-2 Dragon missions will use ‘propulsive’ landings, where the capsule lands on a landing pad using its SuperDraco thrusters rather than splashing down in the ocean.
That will allow NASA faster access to the cargo returned by those spacecraft, and also build up experience for propulsive landings of crewed Dragon spacecraft.