One giant stride for London Pride: Pint of ale jets into space

12 September 2014 by
One giant stride for London Pride: Pint of ale jets into space

A pint of London Pride ale has been photographed in space, after it was launched into the stratosphere.

The pint, from the flagship brand of London pub company and brewer Fuller, Smith and Turner, was lifted into space by a 200g hydrogen balloon, reaching 24.3km (15 miles), at which point the liquid froze.

The glass was set up next to a small Lego man wearing a space suit and holding a flag saying "One small step for man, one giant stride for London Pride", in homage to American astronaut Neil Armstrong's famous words upon stepping on to the moon in 1969.

The idea came from a joke made by Pete and Ros Bangs, tenants of Fuller's pub the White Swan, to scientist Chris Smith, as to whether sending a pint to space would be possible.

Smith, managing director of European Astrotech, who has worked on many rocket launches as part of scientific and commercial programmes across a career spanning almost three decades, said it could be done, and set then about making it happen.

In fact, the launch took place twice, as the photograph files corrupted on the first attempt, leaving the team with no evidence it had happened until after the second launch.

Founded in 1845, Fuller's is based in Chiswick, south west London, on the site of a brewery that has been in continuous operation since 1654. The company now runs 180 managed pubs and 206 tenanted pubs, with a focus on fresh food and cask ale.

As well as London Pride, the group's beer brands also include ESB, Organic Honey Dew and Frontier Craft Lager.

Fuller, Smith & Turner signs London Marathon sponsorship deal >>

Fuller, Smith and Turner scoops eight best beer awards >>

Top Gear's James May fronts London Pride TV ads >>

The Caterer Breakfast Briefing Email

Start the working day with The Caterer’s free breakfast briefing email

Sign Up and manage your preferences below

Check mark icon
Thank you

You have successfully signed up for the Caterer Breakfast Briefing Email and will hear from us soon!

Jacobs Media is honoured to be the recipient of the 2020 Queen's Award for Enterprise.

The highest official awards for UK businesses since being established by royal warrant in 1965. Read more.

close

Ad Blocker detected

We have noticed you are using an adblocker and – although we support freedom of choice – we would like to ask you to enable ads on our site. They are an important revenue source which supports free access of our website's content, especially during the COVID-19 crisis.

trade tracker pixel tracking