back to article Beer in SPAAAACE! London Pride soars to 28,000m

"Pics or it didn't happen" is a common cry down here at El Reg, so we're disappointed to report that last week's audacious mission to send a pint of London Pride to the upper atmosphere ended without airborne imagery. The BALYOLO - BAL (Balloon) YOLO (You Only Live Once) - flight launched last Saturday from the The White Swan …

  1. JimmyPage Silver badge
    Thumb Up

    Just love it ...

    especially since it kinda suggests we need some sort of in depth analysis of beers at altitude ...

    1. TRT Silver badge

      Re: Just love it ...

      and at depth.

      Christ... so many years since I was last foolish enough to down a depth charge.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Just love it ...

      I was thinking someone had bombed a gay bar again.

  2. Lionel Baden

    Rocket Boffin

    Or balloonist ?

  3. Steve Davies 3 Silver badge
    Pint

    Waste of a good pint if you ask me

    They could have sent some Budwiser a.k.a. gnats pee up aloft to see if the freezing improved its taste.

    Doubt it though.

    They can have one on me (as long as it it drunk and not sent skywards)

    1. phuzz Silver badge
      Joke

      Re: Waste of a good pint if you ask me

      (just in case there's someone who's not heard this golden oldie)

      American beer is like making love in a canoe.

      It's f*cking close to water.

      1. Elmer Phud
        Pint

        Re: Waste of a good pint if you ask me

        Water is quite a pleasant beer - had some a while back in Derbyshire.

      2. Sorry that handle is already taken. Silver badge
        Pint

        Re: Waste of a good pint if you ask me

        American beer is like making love in a canoe.

        It's f*cking close to water.

        Sure enough, bad beer comes from the USA. Except for the ones that are very good. Almost all of that worst beers list is American, but so is more than 80% of the top 50 list. It's the story of the USA right there.

        Every country makes bad beer, but you can't say the same about good beer.

        Based on my experience, the Americans also seem to be quite a bit better at making beer that survives the trip to Australia than the English.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Waste of a good pint if you ask me

          "Almost all of that worst beers list is American, but so is more than 80% of the top 50 list. It's the story of the USA right there."

          That's a US website, so what might pass as good in the colonies probably leaves a lot to be desired on most of the rest of the planet...

        2. DropBear

          Re: Waste of a good pint if you ask me

          Based on my experience, the Americans also seem to be quite a bit better at making beer that survives the trip to Australia than the English.

          My word, man! Are you perchance suggesting that in our times products purportedly originating from a certain region of the world are actually transported to another*, instead of being quietly manufactured locally under a license?!? I trust you're surely not!

          (*) That does not apply to China. Everybody knows everything is actually manufactured there and hauled everywhere else, but no other exceptions.

  4. Tanuki
    Thumb Up

    Ferrets In Spaaaaaace!

    There's a part of me who's now pondering the extent to which the reduced-atmospheric-pressure-induced 'boiling' would have selectively distilled-off the alcohol from the beer, and what effect the lower temperature would have had on the relative vapour-pressures of alcohol vs water.

    Hmmmm.. I would suugest that your research-team seeks liquid sponsorship from breweries for a future re-run or twenty, if only to ensure that the experimental results are repeatable and statistically-significant.

    My suggestion would be to send aloft some Fursty Ferret or maybe some Dog's Bollocks.

  5. Annihilator
    Meh

    Hmm

    "The BALYOLO - BAL (Balloon) YOLO (You Only Live Once)"

    Torn between my love of beer and my hatred of YOLO....

    1. TRT Silver badge

      Re: Hmm

      I'm saving my last YOLO for you. X

  6. Neil Barnes Silver badge
    Pint

    YOLO

    You Obviously Love Owls?

    1. A K Stiles

      Re: YOLO

      is that another QC reader I spy?

      1. Neil Barnes Silver badge

        Re: YOLO

        Oh yes!

        1. DropBear
          Pint

          Re: YOLO

          So, shall we start a club...? ;)

          1. A K Stiles
            Coat

            Re: YOLO

            but what would we call it? The "QC Register" ?

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Is that Bruce Willis?

    kinda sorta....looks like him

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Pint

    London Pride soars to 28,000m

    Best place for it some would say....

    1. Steven Raith

      Re: London Pride soars to 28,000m

      Pride is perfectly drinkable, but I must admit a preference for the delicious rocket fuel that is Riggwelter.

      I could drink that stuff all night if it didn't make me fall over so quickly. For drinking all night, Brakspear BItter is ideal - tasty, but mild. You can do seven pints in three hours and still walk home on it.

      Ah, ale, how I love thee.

      *necks old speckled hen from the can*

      Steven R

  9. UKLooney

    Not quite in space, but...

    This crowd got a full keg ontop a 2 stage rocket...

    https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/401713932/2-stage-beer-keg-rocket?ref=users

  10. The Man Himself Silver badge
    Stop

    Legonaut!?!?

    I hope that your trusty Playmonaut is now demanding unionisation?

    1. Elmer Phud
      Pint

      Re: Legonaut!?!?

      Or concerned about the possible saving of weight?

    2. Dave Bell

      Re: Legonaut!?!?

      I hope that your trusty Playmonaut is now demanding unionisation?

      He'll only fly if he isn't charged.

  11. Gruezi
    Black Helicopters

    Hardware failure? I think not.

    "both (yes both) cameras seem to have corrupted the folders containing the video and still photos"

    Or maybe the HAB team sampled too many beers pre-launch and forgot to press the record buttons.

    I smell a cover up!

  12. Juan Inamillion

    Result

    I just firkin love the idea of a bunch of people firstly coming up with the idea - probably as a result of imbibing said ale - then - when sober - actually following through.

    If ever there was a 'Turing Test' for humanity surely it would be based on something as improbable as this.

    More please.

    /Mines the Dark Star, (the Pride's off at the moment...)

  13. disgruntled yank

    Transport

    I'm not sure this will ever catch on the way that sending one's Madeira around the cape once did.

    And though I applaud the mix of beer and boffinry, it seems to me that the best way to send beer up to 28 thousand meters is in a suitably pressurized craft where the travelers may drink it. Yes, I know that it would be vastly more expensive...

  14. Drone Flyer

    Superb stuff but Gopro3's grrrrrr

    I have had the same rollercoaster with the GoPro3.

    Corrupt files and folders lost me hours of images and vids from my hexacopter.

    My solution was to do ALL of the following:

    Update the Firmware to the newest revision:

    Fully Format the card in the device each use and never delete files on the card from another system.

    Use a known brand Micro SD card and make sure its not a rebranded knockoff.

    I'm my case I use a Kingston 16Gb MicroSD HC C10.

    Talking of beer, its pub time :)

    1. Lester Haines (Written by Reg staff) Gold badge

      Re: Superb stuff but Gopro3's grrrrrr

      We've had battery problems. Our solution was never to use the damn thing again.

      1. 7-zark-7

        Re: Superb stuff but Gopro3's grrrrrr

        GP2 FTW.

        Amazing quality footage. Shame about battery life.

      2. DropBear
        Thumb Up

        Re: Superb stuff but Gopro3's grrrrrr

        Our solution was never to use the damn thing again.

        Unorthodox but surprisingly effective solution!

  15. DJO Silver badge

    Possible scientific merit

    The beer outside the payload bay simultaneously boiled and froze

    Never occurred to me that beer would have a triple point, determining that could be of some interest, I wonder if I could get sponsorship to find the triple points of a number of ethanol based beverages - There must be a good reason to do this apart from the necessarily comprehensive before and after taste tests.

  16. ElNumbre
    Thumb Up

    Reasons

    Yum, for a couple of reasons.

  17. Martin Budden Silver badge
    Coat

    "tasted a bit muddy"

    Did it by any chance land in a ditch?

  18. Peter Ford
    Coat

    My first reaction?

    The text is missing from the speech bubble in the firstt photo..

POST COMMENT House rules

Not a member of The Register? Create a new account here.

  • Enter your comment

  • Add an icon

Anonymous cowards cannot choose their icon