Japanese cattle used for Kobe Beef is fed beer to stimulate their appetite
It is true that cattle are occasionally fed beer in Japan. Most cattle in Japan are essentially on feed all of their lives because grazing land is not available. There is some grass on Hokkaido and on Kyushu but many cattle are raised in total confinement from birth to slaughter. Cattle are often fed a finishing diet for at least 16 months and are 30-34 months of age in the case of steers and up to 46 months old for heifers (heifers may have calved once prior to finishing) prior to slaughter. Because cattle are fed so long, and particularly in summer months when the interaction of fat cover, temperature and humidity depressed feed intake, many cattle go off feed. When this happens, beer is fed to the cattle to stimulate appetite. Japanese cattle feeders do not ascribe any magical powers to feeding beer nor do they associate the practice with an increase in carcass quality; they merely feed beer as part of an overall management program designed to keep the cattle on feed.
@Curionic
#staycurious
