Good news for aliens and futurists: Beer is starting to make its way into space. Three years ago, Ninkasi Brewing Co., an independent craft brewery based in Eugene, Ore., created the Ninkasi Space Program. The mission: Send brewer’s yeast to space and return it to earth to brew a deliciously out-of-this-world beer, which it’s been doing for the last few years. AB InBev has continued to market the idea that it wants to make beer on and/or send beer to Mars, thus ensuring Martians will hate earth beer. And just recently, on Jan. 25, 2018, Portland’s BridgePort Brewing Co. reached new heights with its signature IPA-style brew, shooting it into space to mark multiple milestones for the 34-year-old Portland-based brewery.
To the press release!
“The richness of the region’s hop fields inspired BridgePort and set the benchmark for the IPA style,” said Gregor Mina, director of marketing. “Hop boundaries were pushed way out, and we felt it would be fun to send the brew that helped shape the category ‘way out there’ into space and mark another first for BridgePort IPA.”
You can watch BridgePort send the brewski into orbit in the video above. After an hour and a half, the bottle flew slightly above 22 miles in the sky as a nod to celebrate the 22nd anniversary of The Original IPA, the opening of the new BrewPub and the enhanced 5-barrel brewing system recently added to the craft brewery. The bottle of craft beer dropped back down to earth via parachute, landing intact only 55 miles away from launch point. No reports on if the space IPA was consumed.
About the new BrewPub
The BridgePort Brewery and BrewPub are located at 1313 NW Marshall Street in Portland. It is open from Sunday to Wednesday 11:30 to 10:00 p.m. and Thursday through Saturday 11:30 to 11:00 p.m. The renovated BrewPub’s work was directed by Portland-based design firm Moore Arch Designs using supplies and recycled materials from local artisans.
Thank you for sharing in our Hoppy celebration!