There seems to be a growing trend among beer geeks these days. They are taking their love of the brew to the next level and making it permanent. No they aren’t marrying their favorite beverages in some cultish ceremony, even worse they are defacing their body to show allegiance to their favorite beverage.
There is some truly hideous body art out there where beer is concerned, just google “Beer Tattoos” and you will see what I mean. Still others are better done, and less…well, stupid? It seems like this was inevitable. Many of the geeks today are 20 and 30 somethings and they have a tendency to adorn their bodies with their current interests. Hypsters will ink themselves with PBR cans and labels while the true craft beer geeks might look to a stone gargoyle or a hop vine for their inky inspirations. Whatever the case is, Jim and I have always been taught that you should never put anything on your skin that is permanent. At Jim’s work they spend a lot of time and effort to remove past transgressions from people’s bodies, so I thought why do something that I might later regret. That said, a lot of people are doing it, so I have collected some good and not so good examples of the trend below. Enjoy!
Yeah, you're foolin' everyone with the tattoo and the tee shirt 😉
At least this one has a bit of context to it.
I really don't care for the walking advertisement here, but I have to complement the tattoo artist. The detail is amazing.
I hate to see a craft beer treated this poorly, FAIL!
Out of all the tats, I like this one the best. I might have chosen a shoulder. but this Arrogant Bastard had a different idea.
Hop vines are very popular. I like Sara Huska's much better.
So there you have it, a smattering of what is out there. I wouldn’t ever do this, but maybe a Wild Turkey on my ass. That way when I get older and it sags I can say its a pterodactyl. How about you? Would you get a beer tattoo? Do you have a beer tattoo? what possessed you to get one? Let us know in the comments.
-Don
Beer & Whiskey Brothers 
Iron City is craft beer? (Source: I’m from Pittsburgh.)
When you’re in Idaho, Iron City is craft. 😉
That last one is Tracy – co owner of Metropolitan Brewing in chicago
I thought someone might be able to identify her. I like the concept of what she has, but you just really can’t see any hop cones. At least from that perspective.
What in the hell am I looking at in that first picture? Between the fat, shaved hair (WTF?), pedophile gray sweatpants and bulging belly button I’m actually angry you posted it. I can’t just “un-see” something like that.
Pretty gross huh? I also think the drip coming from the tap is terribly disturbing. I was just trying to demonstrate the “range of tattoos” that exist out there. Sorry for your eyes.
You’re lucky he doesn’t have that Wild Turkey on his ass, or you would’ve been subjected to much, much more!
Or I could tattoo a Fighting cock on my scrotum and then pull a Brett Favre for the post! I have yet to begin to be disturbing! The possibilities are endless.
I agree with Matt. WTF.
Yes, there is some truly bad body art out there. Rod’s Keg is just the tip of a very large iceberg!
Gonna have to agree. I may have just thrown up in my mouth. Thanks for the nightmares Don!
Yeah, don’t you hate those ugly mental pictures that just say with you? Its like one of those songs that you just can’t get out of your head.
I just realized something! The first pic looks just like a turkey ready for the oven–I may never eat turkey again!
I’d hate to see what comes out of Rod’s Keg!
I’ve thought about the hops vines starting on my chest and spiraling down my arm, but I’m leaning more toward finding symbols representing Aegir, Ninkasi, and/or Silenus and designing it from there
Seriously Chad? I’d rethink my priorities if I were you. Maybe use the money you were going to spend on that tattoo and take a vacation, create a memory, buy more BEER!
I absolutely love the tattoo I have now. Been wanting a new one for a while, just can’t settle on the design yet.
You got a picture for us? We’d love to see the ink of our readers! 🙂
yup. Will post it when I get home. It has nothing to do with beer, though
Thats ok. Might make it a post all its own and ask others to post theirs. That would be fun.
What I don’t understand is why Don has “Rods Keg” [sic] tattooed on his belly.
I find that puzzling too.
At least he shaved off the fur to make room for it…
Belly Transplant. Horrible shaving accident required immediate medical attention. 😦
I hear Greg Hall has a tap handle tattooed above his penis. He’ll pull a pint for you, especially if you’re a bartender…
You “heard” that? Or did you see?
Hey, what can I say? Some dudes like their beer warm…
I tend to not mind the tattoos the feature more of beer characters. The stone one is good. I’ve seen ones for High Life and Natty Boh to that are fine. Even though the beers aren’t all that great.
Personally I wouldn’t do any brand name/label. However I’ve had a tattoo in mind for years of chili peppers and hops intertwined that I plan on getting eventually. It started with just the chili peppers as a symbol of a lot of changes that happened and the hops were added after I started homebrewing. Everybody loves my chocolate chili porter so it seems fitting.
Well, we should be the judge of that. A sample of the Chocolate Chili Porter would be required to give it our full and unbiased opinion 😉
Nope, I don’t go in for ritual scarification–way too tribal for me.
Same goes for piercing, I learned early on–while growing up in the slums of Chicago–to avoid having sharp objects pierce my exterior.