A typical modern beer can.
An example of a freestanding modern shower.

A shower beer describes the act of consuming a beer 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

Beer in bottles and cans

Beer is one of the oldest alcoholic drinks in the world, but beer in bottles, and certainly beer in cans which are safer for use in a shower, is not. Reliable bottled beer did not develop until late in the 1800s.[2] In the United States, beer cans first appeared in 1935 after the end of Prohibition. Early cans were heavy and not easy to open. Lighter aluminum cans began to spread during the 1960s, and the first easy-open tab type was introduced in 1962. By 1969, sales of canned beer exceeded bottled beer for the first time.[3] As of 2009, half of the revenue of the United State beers market comes from cans, with craft beer makers also moving to canned offerings.[4]

Development and spread of indoor showers

Though William Feetham is widely credited for creating the first mechanical shower in 1767, indoor plumbing and indoor home showers are a much more recent development. Showers became available in some homes in the United States in the 1920s,[5] but did not start becoming a standard feature in newly-built American homes until the 1950s.[6][7] Outside the United States, the adoption of showers has been even slower. For example, only 36 percent of households in Great Britain had a home shower by 1988.[8]

Origin of "shower beer" as a concept

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.[9][10] 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.[11]

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.[12] The Urban Dictionary entry for shower beer was created in 2004.[9][12] 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",[9] and numerous other products have appeared since.[13] Breweries also market some beers specifically as good "shower beers".[9][14][15]

A number of stories about the practice started being posted on the Internet around 2012.[12] 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.[12][16]

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.[11] However, other common occasions for having a shower beer include after a long day at work or after doing strenuous outside activity.[9][17] Actress Margot Robbie extolled her enjoyment of "beer showers" after a long work day in a 2016 interview.[18]

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

References

  1. 1 2 Grove, Jake B. (22 January 2015). Shower beers stirs debate and baths, too, Anderson Independent-Mail (Anderson County, South Carolina)
  2. ↑ (21 April 2015). The Evolution of Beer Packaging, Beverage Journal
  3. ↑ Byrne, Brendan (27 May 2016). The Rise of the Beer Can, The Atlantic]]
  4. ↑ This Day in History: First canned beer goes on sale, History.com, published November 24, 2009, accessed January 4, 2024
  5. ↑ The History of Showering, Neptune Bathing
  6. ↑ Thompson, Clay (30 April 2016). There's a good reason for ballots printed in Spanish, Arizona Republic ("When I was a kid, in the late '40s and early '50s, no one I knew took showers. Everyone took baths. I didn't even know anyone who had a shower, just bathtubs. When did showers become a standard home fixture? ... They began to become common after veterans returning from World War II wanted the convenience and efficiency of the showers they used in the military.")
  7. ↑ (27 September 1959). Popularity of Showers Seen In New Homes, Anderson Herald ("Model homes feature showers... It is not difficult to account for the growing popularity of showers." This article appeared in many American newspapers.)
  8. ↑ (25 February 1988). Showers take control, Galloway News
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 Fleishman, Cooper (11 December 2013). The Internet history of the showerbeer, The Daily Dot
  10. ↑ 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.”)
  11. 1 2 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)
  12. 1 2 3 4 Bryson, LEw (30 September 2019). Yes, You Should Have a shower Beer Today, Daily Beast
  13. ↑ Swasko, Mick (14 August 2013). Chicago friends looking to make shower beer better, Chicago Tribune
  14. ↑ Kell, John (13 January 2017). This Genius Swedish Brewer Made a Shower Beer, Fortune
  15. ↑ Drosner, Chris (21 March 2021). Try cleansing your palate with a Shower Bier, Wisconsin State Journal
  16. ↑ Sile, Elizabeth (10 December 2013). An Ode to the Showerbeer, Esquire
  17. ↑ 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)
  18. ↑ Cristobal, Sarah (15 August 2016). A Day In the Life of Margot Robbie, Harper's Bazaar
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