Shower beer

Wheat beer consumed in the shower.

A shower beer is a beer consumed while taking a shower. While the concept is not complex, it did not become a cultural trend until the first decade of the 2000s.[1]

History

With easily-openable aluminum beer cans in abundance, and indoor showers common and becoming the preferred form of bathing, there is some evidence that the idea of having a "shower beer" as a purposeful act did exist by the 1980s in the United States, but no contemporary news coverage of it seems to exist.[2][3] To the extent people starting drinking in the shower prior to going out (pregaming) in the mid-1980s, this is also when the national drinking age in the United States was raised to 21.[4]

However, aside from anecdotal stories, there is no evidence that the idea of a "shower beer" started spreading as a cultural trend in the United States until the mid-2000s. The term "shower beer" only first spiked in Google search results in 2006, and it has continued to grow since that time.[5] The Urban Dictionary entry for shower beer was created in 2004.[2][5] The first products sold to support drinking a beer in the shower seem to have first appeared around 2006, such as the "shower beer buddy",[2] and numerous other products have appeared since.[6] Breweries also market some beers specifically as good "shower beers".[2][7][8]

A number of stories about the practice started being posted on the Internet around 2012.[5] The showerbeer subreddit on Reddit was created in 2011, and had more than 100,000 subscribers as of 2019. The site features selfies of people (with varying degrees of nudity displayed) enjoying a shower beer.[5][9]

One noted frequent case for having a shower beer is during "pregaming" (a term that developed in 1990s) before going out for a night on the town. The increase of the legal drinking age in the United States to 21 in the 1980s has been blamed for the popularity of pregaming, and may have promoted the development of shower beers on college campuses.[4] However, other common occasions for having a shower beer include after a long day at work or after doing strenuous outside activity.[2][10] Actress Margot Robbie shared her enjoyment of "beer showers" after a long work day in a 2016 interview.[11]

To avoid glass breakage, it is often recommended that a shower beer be a canned beer.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b Grove, Jake B. (22 January 2015). Shower beers stirs debate and baths, too, Anderson Independent-Mail (Anderson County, South Carolina)
  2. ^ a b c d e Fleishman, Cooper (11 December 2013). The Internet history of the showerbeer, The Daily Dot
  3. ^ Lee, Jessica (12 October 2015). The Enduring Allure of the Shower Beer, Punchdrink (quoting the Brewing Program Director for Metropolitan State University in Denver as speculating that "it has been around a lot longer than anyone would guess ... Beer is older than the concept of showering, so I guess I would say a couple days after the first shower was installed.")
  4. ^ a b Sullivan, Matt (15 October 2008). A shower, a beer and a brontosaurus, The News Journal (Wilmington, Delaware) (editorial arguing that alcohol scarcity created by early last calls and a higher drinking age contribute to the act of having a shower beer)
  5. ^ a b c d Bryson, LEw (30 September 2019). Yes, You Should Have a shower Beer Today, Daily Beast
  6. ^ Swasko, Mick (14 August 2013). Chicago friends looking to make shower beer better, Chicago Tribune
  7. ^ Kell, John (13 January 2017). This Genius Swedish Brewer Made a Shower Beer, Fortune
  8. ^ Drosner, Chris (21 March 2021). Try cleansing your palate with a Shower Bier, Wisconsin State Journal
  9. ^ Sile, Elizabeth (10 December 2013). An Ode to the Showerbeer, Esquire
  10. ^ Watson-Hampton, Shelby (22 October 2022). Talking by the Tailgate, Lancaster Farming (the author discusses when she learned about the practice of having a shower beer after a long stressful work day)
  11. ^ Cristobal, Sarah (15 August 2016). A Day In the Life of Margot Robbie, Harper's Bazaar