space

Bitter American is not only a great beer, its design salutes two of my favorite things: primates and space.

Via Ardbeg:

Since we launched Ardbeg's first whisky experiment into space in 2011 – in the shape of vials of Ardbeg-crafted molecules – it has been orbiting the planet on the International Space Station at 17,227 miles per hour, 15 times a day.

To re-cap, the vials contained a class of compounds known as 'terpenes.' Ardbeg was invited by US based space research company NanoRacks LLC to take part in testing these micro organic compounds in a maturation experiment (the interaction of these compounds with charred oak) between normal gravity on Earth and micro- gravity i.e. space.

"Dude... what do you mean 'copy that,' I didn't say anything."

Via Cool Material:

Ninkasi Brewing’s latest beer: Ground Control. Last year, the brewery sent six vials of brewer’s yeast into space (77.3 miles up)—this was their second attempt to do so—and brought them back to brew up this Imperial Stout. Brewed with Oregon hazelnuts, star anise, cocoa nibs, and some astro-yeast, Ground Control is a full and flavorful stout. It will be available in select markets on April 13.

In 2011 the Ardbeg Distillery in Scotland partnered with Texas space research company NanoRacks to launch a vial of unmatured malt and charred oak pieces into orbit. The vial was launched on a Russian Soyuz rocket later that same year while an identical vial was kept as a control in the Ardbeg distillery. On September 12th, 2014 the vial is scheduled to return to Earth so the two can be compared. The hope in the experiment is to see how microgravity conditions affect the maturation process of whisky.

"Nope, go Phish."