Over the centuries, people have found that beer is not just good to drink, but has many other uses as well. Some are obvious and some are not so obvious. Here’s my attempt at compiling a list of all the ways — besides drinking it — that beer can be put to work for some other purpose. If you know one that’s not on this list, by all means please let me know so I can add it here. Thanks.
Since many of the ways we can use beer fall into some broad categories, I’ve divided the list according to these general ways in which the beer can be used.
- Cooking
- Health & Beauty
- Household Chores
- Other Uses
Using Beer in Cooking
- Bake beer bread
- Boil shrimp
- Cook rice
- Make a beer barbecue sauce
- Make pancakes
- Marinate Meat
- Roast chicken
- Steam clams or mussels
Health & Beauty Uses of Beer
- Bathe in it (though it’s best to use an unpasteurized beer for the yeast)
- shampoo hair
- Pass a kidney stone
- Sooth tired feet
- Make a beer slide
- Lower your blood pressure
- Cure insomnia
- Massage yourself
- Calm an upset stomach
- Stop snoring
- Ice a hamstring
- Tame a wild hair
Using Beer for Chores Around the House
- Put out a fire
- Polish pots
- Loosen rusty bolts
- Clear up brown spots on your lawn
- Kill Slugs
- Make a beer slide
- Catch mice
- Tie a fly
- Build your next home
- Build delightful patio furniture
- Scale fish
- Trick a cheap landlord
Other Uses
- Find due north
- Build a plane