A CULT DRINK MEETS PHILATELY
After coffee and water, beer is the third most popular beverage among Austrians.
What is more, it is not just the taste that makes beer so popular, but it also scores points with its healthy ingredients, in particular B vitamins, potassium and magnesium – although, as with every alcoholic beverage, it should only be drunk in moderation, responsibly and in accordance with statutory age limits. Beer is traditionally accompanied by a beer mat, which can either be used to soak up the condensation dripping down the glass or to prevent insects from going for a swim in your beer,
depending on the particular circumstances. Beermats are made from wood pulp board, and this, in turn, is made from spruce wood shavings which are processed to make a pulp, pressed and dried. This base material made from renewable raw materials is therefore compostable.
But you can also make this beer-mat card into a miniature sheet of stamps – and
here we are once again looking at upcycling. For this the 1.4-millimetre-thick raw absorbent wood pulp board was printed on both sides in multiple printing processes, with adhesive gum then applied to one side and a special relief lacquer applied to the bubbles in the foam on the other. The sheets were then cut out in the standard square shape of a beer mat with its rounded edges. The actual stamp with its perforated edges and the motto “Bier hat’s in sich” (beer’s got the lot) can simply be peeled off the sheet and stuck on a postcard, while you can still set a glass of beer down on the rest of the mat – cheers!
A versatile beer-mat
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