Japanese brews ‘space sake’ that tastes ‘like a small universe’ from yeast sent into orbit

A brewery in Japan’s eastern Fukushima prefecture has created a one-of-a-kind sake using yeast that came from space. The key ingredient used to make the Japanese rice wine was transported to the International Space Station in June 2021 and remained in orbit for about a month. Other space agencies have also sent yeast into orbit to study how space radiation affects living organisms. The “out-of-this-world” alcoholic concoction, however, is part of a reconstruction project to mark the 10th anniversary of the disaster. In 2011, Fukushima and the entire Tohoku region were devastated by a deadly earthquake, tsunami and a nuclear accident.