What would be your reaction if you found out that the beef you were consuming was harvested from cattle that ate feed mixed with beer? Sounds weird right? How about the cattle being massaged twice a day with beer?

Well, the Kabierhof, a farm located at Stein, a small town between the Rhine River and Lake Constance in Switzerland, operates with beer.

Sepp Dahler, a farmer and owner of the farm, has developed a very niche brand and market. He rears barely 30 cattle in luxury and sells to an elite clientele.

Due to the language barrier, Sepp’s son, Nicholas, explains the concept of feeding their cattle with beer byproducts and why the cattle get a morning massage with a beer starter and an evening massage with rapeseed oil.

“The owner of the brewery had the idea to try something new, something similar to Kobe beef (well-tendered, well-flavored and well-marbled beef produced from Japanese black cattle). My father was interested so he started with four cows. He massaged them twice a day with the beer starter and fed them twice daily with feed mixed with beer by-products. The massage is to create a bond with the animals so that they get used to human beings around them. Also, the massage reduces their stress especially ahead of slaughter which reduces acid influx in the meat,” he said.

In Switzerland, farming is a generational occupation; hence, Nicholas is very involved in the daily activities on the farm. He explains that biochar is the secret ingredient in animal feed, which reduces calves' mortality and greenhouse gas emissions.

“I made my bachelor's thesis about biochar. What is quite interesting is that when biochar is mixed with the feed it has positive effects on their health especially on the calves which often have problems with their lungs or digestion. The ingredients we use for the feed are beer byproducts, biochar, malt and pressed grains for protein and yeast for vitamins, mixed with water. This recipe is very liked by the cows,” he emphasised.

The big question I know running through your mind now is, do the cattle get drunk? Cattle are ruminants; hence, they have four digestive systems but take a listen to Nicholas as he assures that the process was thoroughly tested before execution.

“That was the most asked question when my father first started with this practice. This led him to want to learn more about the process, to know if there could be traces of alcohol in the blood of the cattle. He then contacted a laboratory in Zurich to conduct some tests which all came out negative,” he assured.

The Kabierhof utilises the whole animal and the leather is processed into marketable artifacts. Fun fact: Kabierhof comes from the German words Kalb, which means calf; bier, which means beer; and hof, which means yard.