The Importance of Beer in Ireland

I started reading The Search for God and Guinness: A Biography of the Beer that Changed the World, and ran across this quote about why Guinness is so popular in Ireland: It is there at births, weddings and funerals, all of the hallmarks of life.

"Beer is not simply a means of drunkenness nor is it merely a lubricant to grease the skids to sin. Beer, well respected and rightfully consumed, can be a gift of god. It is one of His mysteries, which it was His delight to conceal and the glory of kings to search out.  And men enjoy it to mark their days and celebrate their moments and stand with their brothers in the face of what life brings."

--Stephen Mansfield