Over the weekend at South by Southwest Interactive in Austin, Texas, Budweiser announced a plan to brew on Mars. Let’s assume poopy potatoes won’t be involved.
In a panel that featured Kate Mara from the hit movie The Martian, VP of innovation at Anheuser-Busch Val Toothman, and former astronaut Clayton Anderson, Budweiser announced this plan to achieve this lofty goal.
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The desire to brew in space is shared by many. Oregon’s Ninkasi recently sent yeast to space and back, creating a beer from it. That might actually be viewed as easy, when compared to brewing in a microgravity environment. Stick with us here.
Gravity is helpful.
From the mash tun, to the fermentor. gravity plays a big role. Plus, beer in space would be flat. There is no buoyancy to bring the bubbles to the top.
Let’s say humans start living on Mars tomorrow. The gravitation pull on Mars is 3.71 m/s², which is roughing one third of the earth’s pull. You’d have to engineer special brewing equipment, before you even got around to the flat beer issue. Additionally, the fermentation behavior of yeast in a weightless environment needs to be studied.
“With this bold, new dream Budweiser is celebrating the entrepreneurial spirit in which our iconic brand was founded upon. Through our relentless focus on quality and innovation, Budweiser can today be enjoyed in every corner of the world, but we now believe it is time for the King of Beers to set its sights on its next destination. When the dream of colonizing Mars becomes a reality, Budweiser will be there to toast the next great step for mankind,” said Ricardo Marques, vice president, Budweiser.
These questions and challenges are all things Budweiser hopes to conquer over the next decade. When humans get to Mars, Anheuser-Busch wants their Martian beer there right along with them.
