Lest we forget, beer contains booze … Lovers of beer can spend hours extolling its wonderful qualities—sensual, social, healthful, and historical. But we must concede that the main reason it has burrowed so deeply into society has to do with its more active properties. Old English 800 Non-Alcoholic? That was never going to be a big seller. There is something inborn in humans that enjoys altered states of consciousness. Coffee, tea, tobacco, and alcohol (and in some places, legalized marijuana) account for billions of dollars of legal trade a year. Illegal efforts to trip, buzz, and get high are worth billions more.
And it was always so. From eating plants with psychotropic properties to eating slightly fermented ripe fruit, humans have tried to alter their consciousness as far back as we can see. Beer does have wonderful qualities—not the least of which was saving the lives of millions when water was unsafe to drink—but they are not its central lure. We drink beer because it tastes wonderful and provides a euphoric thrumming at the back of our brain pans. More dilute than wine or liquor, it makes an excellent social lubricant, keeping drinkers loose and happy without sending them immediately into stumbling drunkenness.
Because of this, beer is a fairly safe way to reach a companionable buzz—and therefore an excellent way to heighten already fun activities. Dining and pub going, beer festivals, tail-gating, parties, and games are all made more enjoyable with the addition of a splash of beer. And these need not be mere pleasures of the flesh—the ancient ritual of toasting has divine connotations, and monks have, for thirteen centuries, been serving beer to pilgrims who visit their monasteries. There is something innately redeeming in the human impulse to experience collective exhilaration. Beer has long been a magic potion people used to help them in this endeavor, and it’s worth at least skimming the social side of this wonderful merry-making beverage. ■