From the Cleveland Reader (via the Baltimore Sun) comes a story about research from Spain which indicates that drinking beer after exercise may be more beneficial than drinking water.  The study compared the hydration levels of students after strenuous exercise when they drank only water or beer afterwards. The results showed "slightly" better hydration for those who drank beer. Weather or not "slightly" actually means statistically significant or not, there are several explanations given for why drinking beer after exercise may be better than drinking water (carbonation, salts, sugars, etc.).

I would certainly say that drinking beer feels great after exercise, but I'm sceptical that the results are actually showing a significant difference in hydration levels (perhaps similar to the research on sports drinks). I'd love to see the report which shows how much more hydrated the beer drinkers were on average and what the deviations were. I would expect there to be a lot of variance in hydration levels between people.

At any rate, it is a great idea and the results seem to agree with experience.