Sapporo to Brew "Space Beer"

Sapporo Holdings of Japan says it plans to use third generation barley grown from seeds of plants that were once stored for five months on the International Space Station to brew what it is calling "Space Beer."

The company says it will make 100 bottles of the beer later this year. It does not have plans to sell any of the beer commercially at this point. However, Sapporo says the test batches of beer are part of the effort to prepare for a time when astronauts could spend extended periods in space.

The barley for the beer is the result of experiments conducted by Okayama University which examined plants that could be grown successfully in space. Barley can withstand various temperatures and offers healthy nutrients that attracted the researchers.