Lunatic Beverage Development
Dogfish Head Craft Brewery and ILC Dover made “Celest-jewel-ale,” made with moon dust in this lunatic Beverage Development Project
Delaware brewery and ILC, or the International Latex Corporation — perhaps best known by its consumer brand, Playtex – the company behind NASA’s Apollo spacesuits team up in a beverage development project to create Celest-jewel-ale a traditional German Oktoberfest beer with one peculiar ingredient: moon dust.
Celest Jewel Ale,” a beer made with moon dust
“Celest-jewel-ale is made with lunar meteorites that have been crushed into dust, then steeped like tea in a rich, malty Oktoberfest,” the Rehoboth Beach eatery wrote on its website. “These certified moon jewels are made up primarily of minerals and salts, helping the yeast-induced fermentation process and lending this traditional German style a subtle but complex earthiness.” A lunar meteorite is a meteorite that is known to have originated on the Moon. A meteorite hitting the Moon is normally classified as a transient lunar phenomenon. Although they are legal to buy and sell (and drink), they are very rare.
Celest-jewel-ale, which is a limited brew and only available on tap at the Dogfish Head restaurant, is described by its creators as having “notes of doughy malt, toasted bread, subtle caramel and a light herbal bitterness.”
Koozies made from the same material as spacesuits
To guard the beer, ILC is making koozies with the same material as their spacesuits (I am not kidding). The outer layer of the koozies is “Orthofabric”, woven together with Gore-Tex, Nomex and Kevlar layers. Inside the koozie, aluminized-mylar insulation layers help maintain a comfortable temperature. All the materials in the koozie can withstand the rigors of space including extreme temperatures ranging from 250 to minus 250 degrees Fahrenheit (121 to minus 157 degrees Celsius), micrometeoroids traveling at 10 miles per second (16 km/s), solar radiation and the vacuum of space. Customers can use the koozies so long as they are seated in the restaurant. Only ten of the space-age sleeves exist.
“Just as these materials surround the astronauts and keep them at the optimal temperature, they will do the same for beverages,” Dogfish Head states.
“The [koozies are] a little more valuable than your average foam jobbie, so you’ll have to hand over your license and drink your Celest-jewel-ale at the bar,” Dogfish Head Craft Brewery explains on its website. “We’ve gotta keep these beauties grounded!”
Lunatic Beverage Development
Probably you can think of this as some kind of joke, but the truth is that the world of beverage development is constantly looking and experimenting for new ways to create new and original beverages. Companies like us, Liquid Brands Management, professionals in beverage development have to keep track of all the new beverage development trends and technologies, like this lunatic beer, to come up with the best new beverages for today’s demanding consumer.