Space Beer: Budweiser to conduct barley experiments on space station to brew 'first beer on Mars'

Space agencies across the world are racing against time and each other to figure out a viable solution to putting humans on Mars. While a functional Mars human colony is far from having been created or launched, Budweiser has already set its sights on becoming the "first beer on Mars".

The beer maker announced that in December this year, it will conduct microgravity beer experiments in space by sending some barley up to the International Space Station (ISS).

Budweiser says the barley it sends to the ISS will remain aboard for a month, before it makes its way back to the Earth for analysis. The firm said that its microgravity beer experiments will not just offer Budweiser insight on how to brew beer on Mars, but could also provide "valuable information" about barley production on the Earth.

"Budweiser is always pushing the boundaries of innovation and we are inspired by the collective American Dream to get to Mars," Budweiser VP Ricardo Marques said in a statement. "We are excited to begin our research to brew beer for the red planet."

Budweiser selected barley to study in space because it is "one of the core ingredients" of beer and the experiments will allow experts to see how the barley seeds react in "a unique microgravity environment".

The beer maker's barley experiments are scheduled to launch from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on 4 December and will be flown to the space station by SpaceX's rocket. Budweiser said that it will send 20 barley seeds to the ISS, which will remain in orbit for around 30 days before it is sent back to the Earth where it will be analysed further — hopefully with enough data for Budweiser to realise its dream of becoming the first to brew beer on the Red Planet.