A beer for the bath

Cleopatra used asses' milk, the rich and famous prefer champagne, the rest of us have to make do with water

Cleopatra used asses' milk, the rich and famous prefer champagne, the rest of us have to make do with water. But here's a novel marketing suggestion for Irish brewers' chasing new markets through product innovation. Not much you can do with a clean-tasting pint of beer, expect drink it but now, apparently, you can bath in it. A German brewery this week began selling three-litre bottles of dark beer concentrate which, when diluted with water, is enough to fill the average bathtub. The yeast, normally filtered out, is retained, said to be soothing on the skin and a great treatment for eczema although it lacks floral-scented bubbles. A spokesman for the Kloster brewery near Berlin said: "You can bathe in it or drink it. Whoever wants to can do both." A new alternative to enjoy that Smithwicks feeling. - and wash behind your ears at the same time!