In addition to stocking up on diapers and wipes, families in Germany preparing for a newborn often make beer runs—for the breast-feeding mom-to-be.

Nurses and midwives in the country commonly recommend a steady stream of alcohol-free wheat beer to boost breast milk supply.

The German penchant for pints is well-known: Beer is consumed at the movies and on the subway and is even warmed up as a comforting home remedy for cold symptoms. So it’s not much of a surprise that beer-loving, breast-feeding moms might enjoy an alcohol-free variety, which causes no harm to a baby. But does cracking open a frosty brew actually help boost breast milk production? Science says it just might.

University of Munich nutritionist Berthold Koletzko and his colleague Frauke Lehner reviewed the literature a while back for their book chapter “Beer and Breastfeeding”. It turns out that when researchers gave beer to non-breast-feeding women (and rats and sheep), levels of prolactin in their blood rose. This is significant because prolactin is a hormone responsible for initiating lactation in women.