Worldwide weird: Bathe at a beer spa

In lager-loving locales like Austria, Germany and Colorado, the beer is so good you'll want to bathe in it.

Select breweries and spas in the US and Europe are taking advantage of beer's skin-friendly vitamins with treatments that let visitors soak in the suds.

At the Chodovar brewery in Chodová Planá, Czech Republic, a bather soaks for 20 minutes in a tub filled with mineral water and a dark, specially crafted bathing ale (with a beer more suited for drinking in hand). The hops work to exfoliate while the yeast fortifies the skin with B vitamins, proteins and antioxidants.

The Landhotel Moorhoff in Franking, Austria and the Beer Spa Bahenec in Pisek, Czech Republic, offer similar bathing experiences, but replace the traditional tub with a beer-style barrel. Those looking for a home-brewed bath can even order Spa Beer (or badebier) online, brewed by the monastic Klosterbrauerei and used for treatments at nearby Landhotel Kummerower Hof in Neuzelle, Germany.

At the Ritz-Carlton in Denver, Colorado (cheekily known the “Napa Valley of Beer”), spa therapists eschew the tub altogether and apply suds straight to the skin. The Mile High Malt Scrub and Microbrew Massage starts with a scrub made by mixing grainy beer malt with a rice ale, brewed by the nearby Great Divide Brewery.

A horizontal Vichy shower washes away the malt, and the therapist finishes by painting an antioxidant-rich dark stout all over the body. Since the stout is not washed away, the vitamins have time to soak in, and skin is left surprisingly silky instead of sticky. As a bonus, spa-goers get to sip on both types of leftover beer after the treatment, ensuring a relaxing experience one way or another.