Washing my hair with beer

I was wondering what I should make for dinner after  my marketing strategy class late on a Monday night when I quickly came back into focus. My instructor Bud Drago, adjunct professor of marketing, posed the class a question:

“How many of you have drunk a beer in the shower?”

All 30 of my classmates raised their hands.

Drago went on to introduce Shower Beer as part of our weekly “what’s new in the market” discussion. Clearly, we had just proven that there is a target market for such a product.

Shower Beer was created in Sweden by Fredrik Tunedael, founder of PangPang Brewery. The ale comes in a 6-ounce bottle and has 10 percent alcohol by volume content. It is meant to be consumed in three sips while standing in the shower before  getting ready for a night out.

But Shower Beer isn’t meant just to sip, it also doubles as a conditioning agent for your hair. You can sip the beer’s hoppy goodness in the shower, while sparing a swing to cleanse your locks.

Right now, Shower Beer is only being sold predominantly in the European market, but it’s possible to make your own DIY version using any of your favorite brews. Taking this as inspiration, I decided to wash my hair with beer for one week

Before diving into my experiment, I made an appointment with a local hairdresser, Ashley Myers, of Salon L in Manayunk, Pa. to see if she had any knowledge of hair care with beer.

Myers told me about a product that the salon sells called BRÖÖ, a beer infused shampoo and conditioner line that consists of proteins and B vitamins from malts and hops in beer that help repair damaged hair and increases volume.

“The sugars in beer also tighten the hair’s cuticles for enhanced shine,” Myers said.

BRÖÖ is also available at Target for $7.50 per 8-ounce tube. I opted instead for bottles of Leinenkugel Cranberry Ginger Shandy, which I already had in the fridge (I also thought they would smell better than Bud Light).

From tips I had picked up watching several YouTube tutorials, I knew it wasn’t as simple as cracking open a beer in the shower and pouring it on my hair. I still needed to use a light shampoo before the beer rinse because the various ingredients in beer will just condition hair, not necessarily get rid of dirt and grease.

I poured the beer into a pot and let it simmer on a low heat until all the carbonation was gone. This reduced the alcohol content, which could dry out my hair. I left a cup of flat beer in the shower all week next to my shampoo, so I had only to do this once. After lightly washing my hair, I poured the beer from roots to ends, massaging it in and then letting it sit for five minutes. After that, I rinsed it out.

My biggest worry was that I would smell like a bar floor for upcoming job interviews. I also had graduation pictures and feared the beer would make my hair oily or dry.

After just one wash, my hair felt lighter than it normally does after using a retail conditioner. Most surprisingly, I did not smell a hint of beer.

As the days went on, I noticed that the beer wash added volume to the roots of my hair while also relaxing my normally curly-frizz mess. A classmate complimented on the shine of my hair and asked if she could touch it after I told her of my experiment.

It was a bit crazy, but the truth is, by the end of the week, my hair was at peak softness and shine.

I asked Donovan Krebs, assistant brewer at Manayunk Brewing Company if this trend could catch on in the U.S., too.

Krebs has been in the brewing industry for four years and after starting to tell him about my experiment, he cut me off.

“Not only should you be rinsing your hair with beer, but you should also be washing your face with it as well,” he advised.

Krebs went on to tell me how malts are a rich source of vitamin B. Plus, hops help with moisturizing. In fact, he said there are specific gels made from hops to ease itching and inflammation, as yeast is widely known for its antibiotic factors.

Krebs said his own skin has improved once he began brewing professionally.

I suppose it’s time to pick up some more beer. This deserves a few more experiments.