Space Beer Ready for Taste Testing

This Saturday, Australia's 4 Pines Brewing Company will be conducting human experiments in Florida—taste testing space beer. According to ABC Melbourne, the brewery has made its first batch of suds designed to be drunk on commercial space flights. One of the enduring problems with eating or drinking in space is related to what's called space adaptation syndrome.

In orbit, the fluids in your body are no longer being pushed by gravity into your lower half but your body is still trying to pump things around as if you were standing on Earth. This leads to excess fluids in the upper body and head, which in turn causes nausea, vomiting, and swelling. Aside from the nausea, eating becomes less enjoyable because the swelling also applies to your taste buds, and this dampens down flavor in a very noticeable way. The new space beer is a "big, full-bodied" stout that brewers hope will taste great and be less filling, even in microgravity.