beer, lactic acid, etc.

[treelizard]

Strangely enough, a friend of mine told me that drinking beer was extremely helpful after a rank test. Supposedly there is an ingredient that helps get rid of muscle soreness. This sounded like a myth to me, especially with the latest research that reveals that lactic acid is not a poison that makes muscles sore but our muscles use it as a fuel instead. I thought the latest hypothesis was that muscle soreness was brought on by small muscle tears, not lactic acid? Anybody keep up with this? I'm not a trainer and just read for fun and have been focusing more on functional anatomy than anything lately.

Oh wait, just found an article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/16/he...erland&emc=rss

Anyway, my questions are
1) anybody ever heard anything about beer helping reduce DOMS, or is it just an urban legend? looking for anecdotal evidence as well as research, just say which it is
2) if yes, and it's not a lactic acid thing, what is the mechanism?

The only thing I've ever found that helped with DOMS is myofascial release, soft tissue work and a supplement called Wobenzym.