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• Beer is added to hay to help cows digest
  
• The secret ingredient gives the beef a distinctive flavour

By JAMES BLACK

Published: 06:10 EDT, 28 December 2012 | Updated: 06:16 EDT, 28 December 2012

A cattle ranch in Texas has revealed the key ingredient behind its premium beef. The secret is none other than good old fashioned beer.

The Texas T Kobe ranch in Wallis, Texas, adds beer to the hay that its cows feed on. The ranch claims the yeast in the double IPA helps the cows digestion system and improves the flavour and texture of the beef.

The beer is sourced from a local brewery which is its self an award winning company, the Saint Arnold Brewing Co.

Texas T follows the tradition of Kobe-style beef, a method of herding developed in Japan that raises hormone-free, Wagyu breed cattle.

It's one of the most expensive types of beef and is often considered a delicacy -- it can cost up to $100 a pound. 

Japanese ranchers would often massage their cows or feed them beer to reach the ideal flavor.

Ranch owner Gene Terry says his cattle prefers the beef-soaked hay to the regular kind.