What would sake brewed on the moon taste like? The company “Dassai” asks this on its website.Image: https://dassai.com/moon/en/
100 milliliters of sake were sold in Japan for the equivalent of almost 550,000 francs. Because the fine wine was brewed on board the ISS.
May 1, 2026, 8:45 p.mMay 1, 2026, 8:45 p.m
A small bottle of rice wine brewed in space was sold in Japan for the equivalent of almost 550,000 francs. The Dassai sake brewery developed special brewing equipment together with the space and technology company Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and sent it to the International Space Station (ISS) along with the necessary ingredients, as both companies reported.
Sake mash goes a long way
In November, the fermentation process took place aboard the ISS under conditions that simulated lunar gravity. The mash was then brought back to earth in February and processed into 116 milliliters of sake wine. 100 milliliters of it were filled into a bottle and went to an anonymous buyer for 110 million yen (549,000 francs). The remaining 16 milliliters were used for samples.
How is sake made?
Sake production is more complex and takes several weeks. Rice is steamed and then saccharified by the koji mold, while yeast simultaneously ferments the sugar into alcohol. The liquid is then pressed, filtered and sometimes pasteurized. Sake has an alcohol content of around 14 to 17 percent.
The space sake has “a clear acidity” and a “well-balanced and robust sake taste,” a Dassai spokeswoman told the AFP news agency. The experiment proved “that sake production is possible even under conditions of lunar gravity,” explained the two companies involved in the project.
Dassai says he plans to build a sake brewery on the moon by 2050. The aim is to “improve the quality of life for future moon residents”.
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