Overview
Why drink a regular beer when you can enjoy a beverage that glows in the dark? And why scour the shops for bottled varieties when you can make your own bright bioluminescent tipples?
They're the questions former NASA biologist Josiah Zayner will get you pondering when you discover his latest illuminating product. After leaving the American space agency to start his own company, The Odin, he has created a fluorescent yeast kit that will add a glow to your home brewing endeavours — or perhaps inspire you to start.
The key ingredient is called the Green Fluorescent Protein, or GFP, that actually originally comes from a jellyfish. With the Engineer Any Yeast to Fluoresce kit, you'll actually make your own yeast that contains the protein, which will then glow when exposed to a black light. Technically, thanks to some concerns by the US Food and Drug Administration, it's being sold for educational purposes — but Zayner does intend for it to be used for brewing beer. The Odin has a full statement about any safety concerns on the company's website.
The good news is that the kit ships internationally, so you really can make your glow-in-the-dark beer dreams a reality. The not-so-good news — if you're low on cash and time, that is — is that it costs US$199 and requires ten hours of effort over the course of two days to get to the ready-to-brew stage. Luminous beer might light up your next drinking session, but it isn't something you can make lightly, it seems.
For more information about the Engineer Any Yeast to Fluoresce kit, visit The Odin's website.