Sapporo Breweries in Japan has launched a beer made from the seeds of barleycorn which has travelled in space.
Sapporo Space Barley is said to be the first of its kind in the world – however, the beer is not available to everyone. The brewer is inviting just 60 people (30 couples) to taste the beer (for details on the application, go to the Sapporo Brewery website below).
A collaboration between Dr Sugimoto, associate professor in cytomolecular biochemistry at the Research Institute for Bioresources, Okayama University and the Institute of Biomedical Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and Sapporo Breweries, only 100 litres of Space Barley has been brewed, most of which will be used for experiments.
The seeds of the beer barley were in space for five months in the Russian Research Modules of the International Space Station. Upon their return to Earth, they were cultivated at Sapporo’s experimental field at its Gunma Plant, and harvested in May.
For further details, go to http://www.sapporobeer.jp/english/index.html