Ever wish you could literally drown your stresses in beer? According to the Oregonian, that is a possibility at Hop in the Spa, a beer spa in Oregon with a proudly punny name that opened earlier this month. There, owner Sally Champa is offering a number of hops-based options that you won’t find at your local bar. Instead of offering clients pints of pilsner, they have the choice between services like a soak in a microbrew filled tub or an “ale foot soak.”
Champ, a trained massage therapist, started the beer spa with a client who had been in a terrible car accident as an “alternative form of therapy.” She tells the paper that the idea isn’t that novel and that “since the Middle Ages, [people] have been soaking in beer.” Hops are considered to have medicinal properties and have been used as a remedy for pain and even insomnia. Beer spas are still very popular in Europe too where countries like Austria have spas that offer baths in pure beer.
@jamaisvoodoo @beerdrinkinyogi They are missing out by not adding pizza.
— Donnie Barnes (@djb_rh) February 24, 2016
At Hop in the Spa, Champa swaps pure beer for a mixture of “hot spring water and fresh hops, with a dose of herbs and mineral oils”—which sounds like a beer that would be hard to get drunk on. In addition to offering hops-infused baths, body wraps, and facial scrubs, customers are given glasses of beer to drink. Champa has plans to eventually open a beer garden attached to the spa and a lounge serving hops-infused coffee called Hop in the Cup. Cheers to that.
Now, the real question is: how do beer baths compare to soaking in ramen? Surely it must be more beneficial, though decidedly less tasty, than soaking in a tub filled with tonkatsu. The noodle-filled bath, which is available in Japan, is said to increase a person’s metabolism and improve their skin—or just make them very, very hungry.
[via The Oregonian]