“Bathed in beer” ordinarily describes a way to cook bratwurst. According to today’s NY Times travel section story (free registration required), several breweries in Austria, Germany, and the Czech Republic offer spa treatments where one soaks in beer baths for healthier skin. Presumably, dilated blood vessels and an elevated pulse spur a wicked beer buzz.

I especially like the beer taps installed tubside. Suddenly, the idea seems less white trashy (well, except for guys who take their toddlers drinking) but sensible, desirable, and obvious in a why-didn’t-I-think-of-that way. But the taps also indicate what’s wrong with America these days. While Austrian engineers were quietly solving the thermodynamic contradiction of chilled beer served from hot tubs, the marketing geniuses at Anheuser-Busch spent millions developing a caffeine, guarana, and ginseng infused beer that nobody asked for. Misguided “innovation,” if you ask me, and another example of European brewers kicking our asses.

Roland Schlager for The New York Times