Anheuser-Busch Experiments With Brewing Beer In Space

It's only Tuesday, but already there have been a number of news stories from the infinite vastness of space: First, that 100-million-year old interstellar comet that entered our solar system back in the spring is finally passing through our corner of the expanse. Second, the United States has officially established their sixth armed forces branch—the Space Force—and announced that the federal government "recognizes space as a warfighting domain." And finally, Anheuser-Busch InBev has taken a huge step in its quest to establish a commercial brewery on Mars.

On Sunday, SpaceX's Commercial Resupply Ship-19 arrived at the International Space Station carrying the fourth Budweiser-sponsored brewing experiment to be conducted by astronauts. The goal of this particular mission is to determine if malt can be produced from barley seeds while in microgravity, because barley cannot be farmed in Mars' dense, toxic soil. (Farming hops on Mars, however, may be possible.)

Popular Mechanics reports that Budweiser is not the first beer to set its eyes on the stars. Coors sponsored the brewing of a small sample of beer aboard a space shuttle back in 1994, and Nikansi Brewing Company of Oregon is currently brewing a beer with yeast that was sent into space. Currently there are no space laws to govern corporations on Mars, which means the race is on to open the most irresponsible extraterrestrial taproom imaginable.