Behavioral and social consequences related to the consumption of different beverage types.

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this article is to review the literature on the effects of beer, wine and spirits on the behavioral consequences of alcohol consumption. METHOD The methods involve library research and analysis of the various published articles relating to experimental and survey studies of different effects RESULTS The major results indicate that (1) after spirits consumption blood alcohol concentrations rise more quickly than after beer; (2) for most behavioral tasks beer creates less impairment than brandy at the same dose levels; (3) brandy also leads to more emotional and aggressive responses; (4) those who drink beer or beer and spirits have more alcohol-related problems than others; and (5) beer drinkers are more likely than others to drink and drive, to be arrested for drinking-driving and to be in alcohol-related accidents. CONCLUSIONS It appears that beer and spirits lead to greater problems than does wine consumption. However, there is a need for more studies of women and confirmed drinkers of various beverages. There is also a need to study the effects of wine consumption on behavioral impairment. Lastly, there is a need to determine if there is a beer-drinking culture which supports heavy drinking and driving after drinking.