Life on the red planet could be filled with just as many of Budweiser’s red labels as life on Earth is.
The company announced at South by Southwest that it’s working on developing the technology to make microgravity beers on Mars during a panel conversation about space colonization. The panel featured astronaut Clayton Anderson, vice president of Budweiser Ricardo Marques, and Anheuser-Busch vice president of marketing innovation Val Toothman.
“It’s a dream that builds off of our relentless focus on innovation,” Marques said according to AdWeek. “When we can enjoy a few ice-cold Buds on the Red Planet, that will be the moment when we can truly realize our dreams of space colonization.”
Of course, Arrakis-level colonization isn’t coming any time in the immediate future. Budweiser just wants to be ready “to make sure that Budweiser is the beer that people are toasting with on Mars when we get there,” Toothman said. Capitalism truly knows no earthly constraints.
The challenges of brewing beer on Mars are enormous. The whole brewing process relies on gravity — as does consuming a carbonated beverage. Fermentation usually relies on density measurements which requires gravity. One option, though, is to ferment using pressure instead.
As for drinking carbonated drinks in space, well, NASA describes soft drinks and beer as simply a “foamy mess during space travel.” The bubbles don’t separate from the liquid and stay randomly distributed throughout, even when inside the body. Then it passes through an astronaut’s digestive system instead of being burped out as gas, which “may cause adverse side effects.”
But if we can nail making it to (and living on) Mars, perhaps we can solve that little problem too. Or maybe we’ll just have to get used to drinking flat beer.
And for those who prefer homebrews to macro brews, engineering students at the University of San Diego may just have you covered for your very own homebrewing experiments on your new Mars home.
