Leo Gillick
Having beer spilled down you while out in your local bar is gross. It’s sticky, smells bad, and stains. So, you would be forgiven for thinking bathing in beer would be awful. But the beer spa is taking off across Europe nonetheless.
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What is it: The beer bath or spa isn’t necessarily a new thing. It was, reportedly, used in folk medicine in the Bohemian region and period. Knowing the Czech people as I do, I am not surprised they have been bathing in beer for generations.
Now, though, it’s made a comeback. Beer spas are popping up across the country and even spreading across the borders. They’re gaining popularity, and I feel like I need to get involved as soon as possible.
Your typical beer bathing spa consists of relaxing in a 1,000-liter wooden whirlpool tub filled with beer and other healing herbal mixtures. Beside the tub is a tap, serving only the premium Czech beer, which has no limit on consumption. After the bath, beer bathers are given the opportunity to dry off on a wheat straw bed. Here, they can drink more beer and sample beer bread.
Definitely not a trip for the gluten-intolerant.
The Benefits of Bathing in Beer
I feel like the main draw of the beer bathing spa isn’t so much the whirling pool of beer and more the unlimited beer tap right beside it. I could think of few greater experiences than a bunch of pals, sat in beer hot tubs together, sinking endless pints of world-class pilsner. So, on a mental level, it’s already therapeutic, Nivarna.
However, the beer spa’s claim that soaking your body in the hops and wheat herbal beer bath is also healing. The Beerspa website claims that brewers’ yeast has medicinal properties. “It is a fantastic source of nourishment for the skin, smoothing wrinkles and providing overall hydration, while providing essential B vitamins, carbohydrates, and proteins. Brewer’s yeast is also one of the richest sources of organic iron, essential amino acids, unsaturated fatty acids, phosphatides, sterols, glucose, enzymes, and other bioactive nutrients.”
Honestly, I’ll take their word for it. Pop me in a hot beer bath with a chilled tap of beer, and all my worldly problems will wash away.
Currently, you will only find a beer spa in Europe. Prague, of course, is where you would find the best ones. The city has the best beer in the world.
