Alcademics

Not the sort of thing I usually post, but why not? There's a new Ripley's Believe It or Not book out called Enter If You Dare!, and it has some goofy boozy trivia. 

• Beer Lake - pg. 188: A beer lake was formed in the German city of Kassel in December 2008 after a truck carrying 12 tons of freshly brewed beer lost its load while taking a sharp turn. Some 1,600 bottles smashed as they hit the road but their contents quickly froze in temperatures of around 25°F.  

• Tequila Diamonds - pg. 225: Mexican scientists have turned the country's national drink, tequila, into diamonds. They discovered that, when deposited on a stainless steel base, the heated vapor from tequila blanco can form tiny diamond crystals.

• Alcoholic Soap - pg. 232: A hand gel intended to combat swine flu was withdrawn from use at a British prison in 2009 after inmates realized it contained alcohol and started eating it. Instead of rubbing the liquid on their hands, inmates at Verne Prison, Dorset, England, put their mouths over the dispensers and started consuming significant quantities of the gel, with the result that a number became involved in a drunken brawl.

• Resting Place - pg. 235: Jack Woodwards's last wish was honored when his ashes were buried in the pub where he had spent many hours nearly every day of his life. The former landlord's remains lie beneath a flagstone in the bar at the Boat Inn in the village of Stoke Brunne, Northhampshire, England, with a plaque saying: "Stand here and have a drink on me."

• Many Beers - pg. 180: Over 5,000 different types of beer are brewed in Germany. There are about 1,300 breweries in the country, and the Weihenstephan Abbey Brewery in Bavaria has been making beer for nearly a thousand years - since 1040.

• Walk-in Cocktail - pg. 185: The Alcoholic Architecture bar in London, England, pumps out an intoxicating vapor of gin and tonic to leave visitors feeling slightly merry without even having a drink. Customers don protective suits to avoid smelling like a distillery, and to create the impression that they are actually inside the drink, the bar is decorated with giant limes and massive straws while a soundtrack carries the noise of liquid being poured over ice cubes.

• Rudeness Pays - pg. 190: A bar in the Spanish resort of Cullera offered free beer and tapas in 2009 to customers who insulted its bartenders. The owners of Caso Pocho said the gimmick was designed to relieve stress among its recession-weary clientele, but added that the free alcohol and snacks would go only to those who came up with truly original insults.

• Drinking Hole - pg. 240: A 46-year-old man woke up stuck from the waist down in a gully in Bochum, Germany, after a night of drinking in July 2009. With no knowledge of how he ended up jammed down the drain, the man was finally pulled out by baffled firefighters. Police are still confused as to how the drain cover was removed when he claims he did not touch it!

• Drunken Badger - pg. 53: German police were called to deal with a dead badger on the road near the town of Goslar - only to find that the animal was not dead at all, merely drunk! The badger had staggered into the middle of the road after eating overripe cherries that had fermented.