It’s an OUT OF THIS WORLD can release…literally!

Starliner Simcoe Lager has been a favorite here in the tap room for quite a few years now – but did you know that back in 2019 Boeing’s Starliner team reached out to us about grabbing some grain to send on their upcoming flight test? You can imagine how EXCITING that was for us – and how hard of a secret it was to keep!  The team reached out again in 2022 with the same request, and of course we said YES.

Ultimately, the program flew grains that we gave them twice, on two separate flight tests to space, once on OFT – and a separate batch again on OFT-2.

For all you space nerds – LIKE US – here’s some cool facts about those flight tests and the trip the grains took – – >

Starliner Orbital Flight Test (OFT)

Heidelberg Pilsner Malt from Best Malting grains {TN: 37112} flew in space aboard Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner during the Orbital Flight Test. Starliner launched at 6:36 a.m. EST on December 20, 2019, atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. During the uncrewed flight test, Starliner orbited the Earth 33 times and covered a total distance of 854,367 miles. The spacecraft made history at 5:58 a.m. MST on December 22, 2019, with a bull’s eye landing at the U.S. Army’s White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, becoming the first American-made orbital crew capsule to land on U.S. soil.

Starliner Orbital Flight Test (OFT-2)

Heidelberg Pilsner Malt from Best Malting grains {TN: 237016} flew to the International Space Station aboard Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner during Orbital Flight Test-2, an uncrewed flight test that paves the way for crewed flights of the American-made spacecraft. Starliner launched at 6:54 p.m. EDT on May 19, 2022, atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The spacecraft made its first connection to the space station at 8:28 p.m. EDT on May 20, 2022. The spacecraft returned to Earth at 6:49 p.m. EDT on May 25, 2022, another bull’s eye landing at the U.S. Army’s White Sands. During the uncrewed flight test, Starliner achieved all flight test objectives, spent six days in space, orbited the Earth 94 times and covered a total distance of 2,467,406 miles.

Now for the Beer…

This year, when the brewers were getting ready to brew up the newest batch of Starliner Simcoe Lager – they decided it was the perfect time to incorporate the grains from OFT-2 into the batch.

Well, that beer has come to fruition and will be released in cans in the tap room on Monday February, 27th!

Starliner Simcoe Lager is what lager dreams are made of ✨

This single-hop pale lager is made for those who don’t want to sacrifice flavor in a lighter beer. Slightly piney, citrusy, and only 5% ABV.

Please drink and space travel responsibly ✨🚀✨