Good news to you fellow beer drinkers out there. That small beer that you may have to quench your thirst after some physical exercise does not seem to be a bad thing.
Published in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, the aim of the research was simple, can a beer be part of your rehydrating regime following a dehydrating exercise session?
To answer the question they recruited 16 fit males and put them through their paces with a run lasting under one hour in lab with a temperature of 35°C and humidity of 60%. In the following two hours half of the guys were allowed some beer (up to 660ml) and as much water as they wanted while the other half were only given as much water as they wanted. The test was repeated 3 weeks later but this time the other group were given the beer.
They found that the beer intake did not have an adverse affect on any of the parameters measured including fluid balance and urine excretion values and so conclude that a limited beer intake after excercise does not seem to dehydrate you further.
Just a note of caution, the beer in this study had 4.5% alcohol, so the same might not hold true if you are drinking a tripel or special brew.