Charlotte brewery sends a beer toward outer space, goes viral on TikTok
Charlotte’s Devil’s Logic Brewing, located on East 4th Street, is “tapping in” to the world of TikTok. In a post that went viral, the brewery sent one of its beer cans toward outer space. Part two of that video alone saw over 259,000 views on the platform.
Brian Wallace, co-owner and founder, said the idea for the launch came as a “friendly rivalry” brewed between Devil’s Logic and other breweries on social media.
“This is a hobby for me now,” Wallace said of the experimental TikToks. “People like to have fun, and that’s what attracted me to the brewing industry, as well. You have to take it seriously as a business — but you can have a lot of fun doing it, as well.”
Despite not having a background in science, Wallace and his team were excited about the launch because it allowed everyone to come together and have a good time.“We did a lot of research on how to do it properly, safely and trying to do it as successfully as possible,” Wallace said. There are around 1,800 weather balloon launches a day. With this in mind, Wallace started contacting the pros for their input, adding that he initially spent 40 to 50 hours conducting research.
In their first attempt, which they launched from a graveyard, team members lost tracking of the package. The balloon burst and caused the package to land close to the coast.
After one popped balloon and three missing GoPro cameras, the team headed back to the drawing board. The second experiment involved multiple GPS devices and extensive analysis to figure out what went wrong.
“Most people, when they order the equipment, they’ll order enough to do two or three launches just because a lot of times your first launch doesn’t go as planned,” Wallace said.
Technically speaking, the beer can didn’t quite reach the Kármán line, which is the line that puts a boundary between outer space and Earth. Reaching that boundary would require a mix of gases and a more advanced method. However, this one did reach impressive heights.
Wallace estimates that the balloon reached burst altitude at 96,000 feet, which is about three times the altitude of what airplanes fly at.
The second balloon landed in Devil’s Tramping Ground in Bear Creek, North Carolina — something Wallace said the team, curiously enough, didn’t plan on purpose.
Though they deemed the second attempt a success, the camera failed to capture the balloon as it popped. In the future, the team plans on filming a third TikTok to showcase the experiment in its entirety — balloon pop and all.
The brewery’s social media manager, who goes by DJ, says the popular platform allowed them to “dive into something new.”
“The hardest part about being a new brewery in Charlotte is just getting known, and TikTok is a good place to put a lot of fun content that isn’t so serious,” she said.
Devil’s Logic uses TikTok to post behind-the-scenes footage, along with beer pour challenges from various elevations.
“Anytime anybody wants to duet any of our challenges, we’ll welcome it with wide arms,” DJ added.
Echoing DJ, Wallace says the main idea in using the new media platform is to reach new audiences.
“There’s a huge on-tap market,” Wallace said. “Expanding outside the brewing industry and trying to engage more people of different backgrounds is also the focus, too.”
Devil’s Logic Brewing opened its doors to the public with a soft opening last year. The brewery also hosted a few events back in 2019. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, Wallace felt it best to play it safe and officially re-open again in 2021.
“With mentions of COVID and everything, by the time we would have had the ability to put everything together, it wouldn’t have been the right thing to do,” Wallace added.
Devil’s Logic will host a grand opening on June 4, 5 and 6.
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