By Rebecca Harris
In a world first, a Japanese brewery has produced a beer made from extra-terrestrial barley.
The brainchild of Sapporo Breweries, the Russian Academy of Science and Okayama University in Japan, the ‘Space Barley’ beer is produced from barley seeds that were grown for five months on board the International Space Station.
Only 100 bottles of the Space Barley have been produced. They will not be sold commercially, but will be sampled at an exclusive tasting in Japan next month. At 5.5 per cent alcohol, the beer’s producers claim it is completely safe to drink and tastes just like regular beer.
The beer was produced as part of an ongoing study on the adaptability of plants to environmental changes. Sapporo joined with Okayama University biologists working with the Russian space team, who took the seeds into space in April 2006.