This Trappist Beer Shampoo Lets You Wash Your Hair with One of Belgium's Best-Known Brews

The Westmalle Trappist Brewery in Belgium could be considered one of the original "craft" brewers. Like all Trappist breweries, Westmalle was started by monks with all profits either being used to support the abbey or going to charity, and the abbey has been churning out highly-regarded, traditional Belgian brews since 1836. Now, almost two centuries later, for the first time apparently, you can wash your hair with it.

Last week, the Sisters of the Abbey Our Lady of Nazareth announced they had teamed up with their monk bothers over at the nearby Abbey of Our Lady of the Holy Heart of Westmalle to create what is being billed as "the first hair care product made with a real Trappist beer." The new shampoo from their brand Trapp is made with 10 percent Westmalle Dubbel beer.

"The combination of two wonderfully foaming products turned out to be a match. It is a lightly perfumed shampoo with a conditioner effect," Sister Katharina said in the announcement. "Older sisters remembered that in the past beer was used to curl hair and to make hair more shiny. We asked the Meurice Institute in Brussels to make a scientifically based study about the benefits of beer for skin and hair. The study showed that there are many advantages, thanks to the polyphenols, trace elements, vitamins and minerals in the beer. They stimulate the natural volume of the hair and make it shiny."

Commissioning a scientific study isn’t the only shrewd, modern move these nuns are making. The new Trappist beer shampoo was actually dreamed up to help revitalize the abbey’s Trapp product line which first launched back in 1964 and push the sisters’ updated online presence. (Heck, even Westvleteren lets people reserve beers online now!) In the past, the abbey mainly sold its soaps to Catholic schools and hospitals, but now, Sister Katharina explains, "The sisters also sell directly to the consumer through their own, recently renovated abbey shop. From now on, Trapp care products can be ordered by consumers as well as retail customers via our new webshop."

A 330-milliliter bottle of Trapp Westmalle Dubbel Shampoo will set you back €8.89 (about $10). It’s the only beer product they currently have, but to be fair, cleaning your tiles with Westmalle floor soap would just be a waste of a decent brew. Sadly, at this point, the nuns don’t appear to offer an option for shipping to the U.S. Come on, nuns! You have a webstore but don’t offer to ship outside of the European Union?! Actually, I’m not even going to complain: These are some pretty savvy sisters.