Rhinegeist to launch beer from rocket-launched yeast

Ohio’s Rhinegeist Brewery is preparing for a one-of-a-kind release, Apex Apple Ale, brewed with yeast that travelled nearly two miles above earth. Earlier this year, the University of Cincinnati’s rocketry team carried the yeast as a payload during the International Rocket Engineering Competition in Midland, Texas, where their 11-foot and 60-pound rocket, Rising Star, soared to 10,245 feet at a speed of about 750 mph.

The student team, led by aerospace engineering major Matt Boller, used sensors to examine how launch vibrations affected dry yeast in a growth medium. Their experiment offered both scientific data and an unconventional way to meet the competition’s payload requirement. Rhinegeist’s microbiologist Nicholas Ketchum, fascinated by the fusion of science and brewing, embraced the concept and partnered with the team to recover the yeast and use it in a commercial beer.

Apex Apple Ale will feature a gentle hint of apple rather than an overpowering fruit character. Rhinegeist has brewed sixteen kegs, timed for an autumn taproom debut.