This beer is truly out of this world.
Sam Adams has made one giant “hop” for mankind with its new Space Craft IPA.
The Boston beer behemoth’s newest release was brewed with 66 pounds of Mosaic and Citra hops that traveled 300 miles above the earth on Inspiration4, the world’s first all-civilian space mission.
Whether the inclusion of orbited ingredients affects the flavor is unclear, but the resulting west coast-style IPA is said to have “a firm bitterness and tropical notes of grapefruit, guava, and passionfruit.” A four-pack is priced at $22.33 as a nod to the spaceflight’s duration of two days, 23 hours and 3 minutes.
Inspiration4 set off with a loftier goal than sending a four-person crew out of the Earth’s atmosphere. The spaceflight’s payload included a Martin Guitar ukulele, IWC Pilot’s Watch Chronographs, and the hops, all of which were auctioned off upon return to benefit the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
Sam Adams purchased the Space Craft hops with a $100,000 donation to St. Jude’s ongoing $200 million campaign, which aims to advance cures for and means of preventing deadly pediatric diseases.
Canned at 6.2 percent ABV, Sam Adams Space Craft will be available at its Boston Brewery, Boston Taproom, and Cincinnati Taproom on November 16 in conjunction with the expected peak of the Leonid Meteor Shower.
Those locations are you best bet to get a taste, as the four-packs are already sold out online.