[ansel12]

If alcohol dehydrates you, then how does that work?

I can take you to the desert and give you all the booze you want, and you will die.

[fr_freak]

I can take you to the desert and give you all the booze you want, and you will die.

Actually, I don't think you will die until after you stop drinking. So, with an infinite supply of booze (or, at least, wine) you would theoretically never dehydrate. Of course, you'd never find your way out of the desert, either, nor would you care.

[katana]

Depends, I suppose, on the alcohol content of the drink. The brewing or distilling process itself will kill any bacteria and leave a liquid that has between 4% and 50% alcohol content (beer and wine at the low end, liquor at the top) and itself at least somewhat antiseptic.

The Greeks and Romans made very strong and heavy wine which was always, with come ceremony (read the Iliad or the Odyssey), cut with water. I doubt anybody would die from dehydration on a diet of beer, even in a desert. But drink a fifth of 80 proof "Ol' Sunshine" neat while strolling through the Gobi and your point becomes valid.

Alcohol has been a part of human culture since before the invention of writing and the attempt to alter that by force of federal law was a disaster. The "War on Drugs" has been a quieter disaster, but in terms of the money channeled into the pockets of criminals, and on a vast international scale, it makes the grand experiment of the 18th Amendment (1920 to 1933) look puny in comparison.

[CharacterCounts]

Hard liquor may dehydrate you, but beer does not. Beer is less than 5% alcohol and the dehydration effect of the alcohol is overwhelmed by the the water content.