A Minnesota Inventor Created a Beer Motorcycle

What if your motorbike could run on a 14-gallon keg instead of gasoline? Inventor Ky Michaelson wanted to know the answer, so he created what he thinks is the very first beer-powered motorcycle. Have a look for yourself:

So how exactly does the humble beer power a motorcycle? Basically, beer is poured into the keg (which acts as the fuel tank), and it’s then heated to more than 300 degrees F. The steam generates enough power to move the motorcycle forward. But according to Michaelson’s son buddy, you don’t necessarily have to use beer. “It could be Red Bull. It could be Caribou Coffee. It could be anything,” he said. “But beer, why not?” For their experiment, the Michaelsons used Ninkasi, a beer from Eugene, Oregon.

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The boozy motorcycle has already won the first-place prize in a couple Minnesota car shows. The duo hasn’t taken the motorcycle out for a full-on test drive, but Ky wants to give it a go at a local drag strip before displaying it at his in-house museum, alongside some of his other inventions — like a rocket-powered snowmobile, bicycle with wings and hot dog cooker that he dubbed “Ky’s Little Cremator.”

With the way gas prices have been, Michaelson’s invention certainly makes a lot of sense — especially if you can power it with mediocre light beer.