Swiss beer with altitude (Brauerei Locher)
There is more to beer than bubbles and alcohol, as Alastair Gilmour discovered when he headed to Switzerland for a beer massage...
The water in the whirlpool bath is hot; there’s a metre of snow outside; you’re completely naked, but you’re perfectly relaxed and utterly content, so what is the Swiss spa masseuse about to do with her huge pitcher of organic beer?
She’s going to pour it all over you and turn on the jet stream flow to circulate bubbles over every millimetre of your skin. And, after 20 glorious minutes of wallowing in nutrient-packed malt and yeast, breathing in the aromas you thought could only exist in a brewhouse, you glow with haleness, heartiness and general wellbeing. A grin of selfsatisfaction isn’t too far away, either.
“Beer is good for the hair and the skin,” says Kathi Fassler, head of the beauty and wellness centre at the hotel Hof Weissbad, near Appenzell in Switzerland. And the mind, I think, feeling exhilarated, madly creative and ready to tackle the peak of any one of the quaintly-named mountains surrounding this astonishing region an hour’s train ride from Zurich.
The massage bath is part of the Hof Weissbad’s Ninkasi treatment applications – Ninkasi being the ancient goddess of beer – which offers all-over body cleansing with beer residues and malt grist blended with wheatgerm oil and peppermint oil. If you prefer, an energetic massage with hop flowers relaxes muscles and nourishes the skin, while a peat poultice and scalp treatment – also laced with beer – invigorates muscles, joints and organs.
The rediscovery of long-forgotten treatments using beer products fits neatl.....
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By Alastair Gilmour
Section : International Brewery
Page number : 16
