Posts Tagged ‘beer’

Asahi to sell more imported beer

Good news for European beer fans:

Asahi Breweries Ltd., Japan’s top- selling beermaker, will expand its alliance with Belgium’s InBev NV, importing more brands from the world’s biggest brewer by sales.

Asahi will import a further six brands to Japan, including Stella Artois and Hoegaarden, the Tokyo-based company said in an e-mailed statement today.

The two companies may consider the joint procurement of raw materials, such as malt and hops, the Nikkei newspaper reported earlier, without saying where it obtained the information. Asahi also hopes to boost sales of its main Super Dry brand by using InBev’s breweries overseas, the report said.

AstroBeer!

Once again, Japan is on the cutting edge of beer technology. I remember being astonished back during my time studying abroad in Tokyo when my host brother (a marketing executive for Asahi Breweries) explained that Asahi was synthesizing beer from soybeans. Crazy. It wound up tasting…well, bad, in all honesty. But I’m all for pushing the limits of our current brewery capabilities. Sapporo Breweries Ltd. has stepped up to the plate this time around.

TOKYO (AFP) – A Japanese brewery Tuesday said it was planning the first “space beer,” using offspring of barley once stored at the International Space Station.

Researchers said the project was part of efforts to prepare for a future in which humans spend extended periods of time in space — and might like a cold beer after a space walk.

AFP via Yahoo! News

Ah, yes. Drunken astronauts – something which, I think we can all agree, would be worth realizing one day in spite of the plausible tax hikes to pay for the disasters it might cause. Excellent. This dystopia wonderful future is still a long way off, though, considering that the barley to be used is the third generation descended from some that spent a mere five months in orbit at the International Space Station.

Sapporo and Okayama University have grown seeds from barley used for the outer space tests and now expect to harvest 40 to 50 kilograms of barley descending from plants grown in outer space.

In a bid to stir interest in outer space, Sapporo said it plans to produce some 630 liters of beer and some 100 liters of tea, and provide opportunity for some consumers to drink the “space beer” and “space barley tea.”

“If production of barley and other agricultural products in outer space is demonstrated, it may mean that humans could stay in outer space longer while being self-sufficient in foods,” Manabu Sugimoto, an associate professor at Okayama University, said at a news conference.

AP via Breitbart

I can hardly wait until astrobeer is old hat and we’re dealing with space moonshine. Maybe it’ll be ready by the time Astroboy comes of drinking age.

Hat tip: Taro at 3 Yen
(subscription required for Nikkei / WSJ source article)

Also fun: Space yeast in New Mexico beer last year… (Wired Blog)

Japanese Scientists: Drinking Makes Heart Grow More Sorrowful

Drinking alcohol to forget about your sorrows? Some Japanese scientists would like to have a word with you:

Researchers at the University of Tokyo concluded that ethanol — an intoxicating agent in alcohol — does not cause memory to decrease, as widely believed, but instead locks it in place.

The researchers, led by pharmacology professor Norio Matsuki, gave mild shocks to lab rats to condition them to fear. As a result, the rats would freeze in terror and curl up the moment they were put in their cages.

Researchers then immediately injected the rats with ethanol or saline.

The researchers found that rats with alcohol in their veins froze up for longer, with the fear on average lasting two weeks, compared with rats that did not receive injections.

“If we apply this study to humans, the memories they are trying to get rid of will remain strongly, even if they drink alcohol to try to forget an event they dislike and be in a merry mood for the moment,” the study said.

“The following day, they won’t remember the merriness that they felt,” it said.