Newsletter: Beer Garden?

Beer garden… I do not think it means what you think it means

Goodbye Sprinter. Hello Spring!

This weekend is going to be absolutely lovely, which of course makes us think of being outdoors and of course, beer drinking weather! (If you think about it though, is there a time, atmospherically speaking, when it’s not beer drinking weather? Just sayin.)

Whether it’s getting together with family or friends, running errands or even getting your hands dirty in the yard, you should definitely pick up some  beer to enjoy outside.

Ask the Brewer

What are some good uses for beer in the garden?

Not one… not two… not three… but four! Four awesome uses for beer in the garden.

First and potentially most commonly known, is the use of beer as a slug and snail killer. Both are as attracted to beer as we are (it’s too late for you to deny it), so setting out a dish of it is a great way to catch and eliminate these garden pests, without the use of pesticides. Make sure the dish is deep enough for them to drown in.

Our second way is to use beer as food for butterflies. (Yup, they like beer too!) For this, you can use a pint or two of flat beer along with the following:

• 1 pound sugar
• 1 or 2 pints stale beer
• 3 mashed overripe bananas
• 1 cup of molasses or syrup
• 1 cup of fruit juice
• 1 shot of rum

Mix all of the ingredients together and then put it in a butterfly feeder or paint it onto flat rocks, trees, fence posts or stumps.

Our third use for beer in the garden is as a fertilizer and growth accelerator for those brown spots in your lawn. Supposedly, the fermented sugars in beer can stimulate plant growth and kill fungi. So, if you have leftover beer in your glass that has gotten too warm, you could just pour it out on your lawn.