Alcohol.

[Guy355]

Is a Catholic banned from drinking alcoholic drinks such as beer? St. Paul declares that the drunks will not see the kingdom of heaven. Any answer from a Catholic view shall be welcome, thanks.

 

[Ad_Orientem]

No, alcohol is not forbidden. Jesus turned water into wine, and not for medicinal purposes; it was a wedding reception.

What is sinful is the *abuse *of alcohol, i.e. getting drunk.

There is a virtue called temperance. This does not just refer to alcohol but to the moderation of pleasure in general. God made pleasure, but due to our fallen nature we tend to seek it too much and for its own sake. This hurts our harmony with God and others, and within ourselves.

We cannot learn temperance if we just forbid everything. If someone is an alcoholic, then yeah, he should avoid it altogether. But generally speaking, there’s nothing wrong with pleasure in moderation (so long as it’s not an inherently perverted pleasure).

 

[1ke]

Is a Catholic banned from drinking alcoholic drinks such as beer?

No. In fact Catholic monks invented beer.

I would think that Jesus’s example of drinking wine would be sufficient to answer this question.

St. Paul declares that the drunks will not see the kingdom of heaven.

Drinking beer, wine, or other spirits and being a “drunk” are not the same thing at all.

Any answer from a Catholic view shall be welcome, thanks.

From the Catechism:

2290 The virtue of temperance disposes us to avoid every kind of excess: the abuse of food, alcohol, tobacco, or medicine. Those incur grave guilt who, by drunkenness or a love of speed, endanger their own and others’ safety on the road, at sea, or in the air.

 

[TheRealJuliane]

Is a Catholic banned from drinking alcoholic drinks such as beer? St. Paul declares that the drunks will not see the kingdom of heaven. Any answer from a Catholic view shall be welcome, thanks.

Jesus CONSECRATED wine into His Holy Blood. How could it be forbidden?

We’re not Baptists. Alcohol is fine in moderation. If you can’t drink it moderately, then you need to abstain. There are support groups to help with that. Alcohol should not be used for an emotional reason. If you see yourself turning to alcohol as a type of pacifier, seek help. Alcohol is a depressant and should not be abused by people who are already depressed.

 

[EasterJoy]

Even the Greeks defined temperance as moderation in action, thought, or feeling, as restraint, not as abstinence. I was lucky to grow up with parents who drank alcohol almost every day, excepting Advent and Lent, and yet who never got drunk, even at the most raucous wedding receptions. We knew that whoever was going to get drunk at a wedding, it wasn’t going to be our parents. That made an impression on me, because I did not enjoy the people who had too much to drink. You never knew what they were going to do or say. They weren’t fun to be around.

 

[Aelred_Minor]

St. Paul warned St. Timothy not to abstain from alcohol entirely but to take a little wine “for your digestion”. And of course Jesus Christ incorporated wine into the highest sacrament of the Church.

We just have to be careful that we do not drink alcohol in excess, in inappropriate contexts, or with a gluttonous spirit.

 

[Aelred_Minor]

No. In fact Catholic monks invented beer.

I would think that Jesus’s example of drinking wine would be sufficient to answer this question.

Drinking beer, wine, or other spirits and being a “drunk” are not the same thing at all.

From the Catechism:

2290 The virtue of temperance disposes us to avoid every kind of excess: the abuse of food, alcohol, tobacco, or medicine. Those incur grave guilt who, by drunkenness or a love of speed, endanger their own and others’ safety on the road, at sea, or in the air.

Catholic monks did not invent beer. Beer has been around since probably the Neolithic era. The ancient Sumerians had a goddess of beer. Catholic monks may have been the first ones to put hops in beer and today it is hard to imagine beer without hops. Also Catholic monks invented certain kinds of beer, most famously Trappist ale (often marketed as “abbey ale” if the producer does not have a connection to a Trappist monastery).

 

[EasterJoy]

Catholic monks did not invent beer. Beer has been around since probably the Neolithic era. The ancient Sumerians had a goddess of beer. Catholic monks may have been the first ones to put hops in beer and today it is hard to imagine beer without hops. Also Catholic monks invented certain kinds of beer, most famously Trappist ale (often marketed as “abbey ale” if the producer does not have a connection to a Trappist monastery).

Yes…and the “invention” of sparkling wine was accomplished by learning to cultivate what had previously been considered an irritating fault in wine. The Benedictine monk Dom Pérignon and the other Champenois winemakers of his time spent their lives trying to get rid of the bubbles!

Nevertheless, it is undoubtedly true that monastics considered the science of beer and wine production to be among the good works of their communities. It is drunkenness, not the mere drinking of alcohol, that is inherently sinful.

 

[Deus_tecum]

Is a Catholic banned from drinking alcoholic drinks such as beer? St. Paul declares that the drunks will not see the kingdom of heaven. Any answer from a Catholic view shall be welcome, thanks.

I would hope not since every Catholic Church around here sells a large quantity of beer at their summer festivals.

 

[TheRealJuliane]

I would hope not since every Catholic Church around here sells a large quantity of beer at their summer festivals.

Hee hee, we even have a margarita booth at our Fall Festival!

 

[Becca3]

Catholic monks did not invent beer. Beer has been around since probably the Neolithic era. The ancient Sumerians had a goddess of beer. Catholic monks may have been the first ones to put hops in beer and today it is hard to imagine beer without hops. Also Catholic monks invented certain kinds of beer, most famously Trappist ale (often marketed as “abbey ale” if the producer does not have a connection to a Trappist monastery).

What is hops?? A type of grain?? Is that what makes people get drunk or 'high"?? And so you don’t know if Catholic monks were the first ones to put hops in beer?? Does anyone have any proof?? lol.

 

[EasterJoy]

What is hops?? A type of grain?? Is that what makes people get drunk or 'high"?? And so you don’t know if Catholic monks were the first ones to put hops in beer?? Does anyone have any proof?? lol.

Kind of new to beer, huh?

At its most basic level, beer is an alcoholic beverage made by brewing and fermentation from cereals, as opposed to wine, which is made from fruit (grapes or berries) or flowers (such as dandelion). Of the two, beer is believed to have been made earlier than wine, but both have been made from ancient times. (To make hard liquor, the alcoholic mixture achieved by fermentation of a starch or a fruit has to be distilled to a higher concentration of alcohol, because yeast can’t live in a solution where the alcohol content goes beyond about 14%.)

Most beer now is made from malted barley or malted wheat (that means the grain has been made to germinate before it was dried). The alcohol, or “high” comes when the grain is fermented by yeast that are grown in water with the grain as a food source; the yeast excrete alcohol as a by-product of breaking down the starches in the grain.

Hops are a flower–the female flower of Humulus Lupulus, the hops vine, to be specific–and an extract of the flower is added to beer as a flavoring agent and a preservative. Evidence for the use of hops in beer doesn’t exist earlier than 822. (The vine had other medicinal and practical uses before that.) Before the use of hops, beer had a short shelf life before it went sour, something less than two weeks.

It is hard to tell who was the first to put hops in beer. Much of the history of Western Europe can only be gleaned by what the monastics wrote. No one else who might have been able to write (and thus record) the specifics of daily life were likely to have written about practical things like that, and even less likely to have preserved their notes. It is known, however, that many of the innovators of that time were monks, and certainly the monasteries had the best system of sharing their discoveries with others, one monastery to the next.

 

[Becca3]

Kind of new to beer, huh?

At its most basic level, beer is an alcoholic beverage made by brewing and fermentation from cereals, as opposed to wine, which is made from fruit (grapes or berries) or flowers (such as dandelion). Of the two, beer is believed to have been made earlier than wine, but both have been made from ancient times.

Most beer now is made from malted barley or malted wheat (that means the grain has been made to germinate before it was dried). The alcohol, or “high” comes when the grain is fermented by yeast that are grown in water with the grain as a food source; the yeast excrete alcohol as a by-product of breaking down the starches in the grain.

Hops are a flower–the female flower of Humulus Lupulus, the hops vine, to be specific–and an extract of the flower is added to beer as a flavoring agent and a preservative. Evidence for the use of hops in beer doesn’t exist earlier than 822. (The vine had other medicinal and practical uses before that.) Before the use of hops, beer had a short shelf life before it went sour, something less than two weeks.

Well, let’s just say I don’t drink alcohol but I am now discovering mention of it in several places in the Scriptures as being ok. I also sort of knew that it has to be fermented but that was all.

 

[EasterJoy]

Well, let’s just say I don’t drink alcohol but I am now discovering mention of it in several places in the Scriptures as being ok. I also sort of knew that it has to be fermented but that was all.

The chemistry and art of alcohol is very interesting. For instance, did you know that vanilla extract is usually about 35-40% alcohol? This is because a mixture of water and alcohol is better for distilling the flavor elements from a vanilla bean than water alone.

If you put a little shot of vanilla into a child’s milkshake, it’s the same as putting in a little shot of whiskey in the same amount. So even if you don’t use alcohol for the “high”, definitely consider it as a flavoring agent in your cooking. There are some health benefits to consuming alcohol, but considering there are offsetting health risks, there isn’t any compelling reason to learn to like alcohol if you don’t like it. Still, many people do like it and many people do use it in moderation. It’s one of those little pleasures in life that needs to be used in moderation, like sugar, salt, butterfat, and refined grains.

 

[Becca3]

The chemistry and art of alcohol is very interesting. For instance, did you know that vanilla extract is usually about 35-40% alcohol? This is because a mixture of water and alcohol is better for distilling the flavor elements from a vanilla bean than water alone.

If you put a little shot of vanilla into a child’s milkshake, it’s the same as putting in a little shot of whiskey in the same amount. So even if you don’t use alcohol for the “high”, definitely consider it as a flavoring agent in your cooking. There are some health benefits to consuming alcohol, but considering there are offsetting health risks, there isn’t any compelling reason to learn to like alcohol if you don’t like it. Still, many people do like it and many people do use it in moderation. It’s one of those little pleasures in life that needs to be used in moderation, like sugar, salt, butterfat, and refined grains.

I didn’t know that about vanilla extract!!

Yes, I have heard of people using alcohol to flavour their foods in their cooking. I have had Bourbon Street Steak at Applebee’s which is one of my fav to eat!!! And you can’t taste the Bourbon in it. It has been cooked out. I just don’t like the taste of alcohol. Never have. lol.

 

[EasterJoy]

I didn’t know that about vanilla extract!!

Yes, I have heard of people using alcohol to flavour their foods in their cooking. I have had Bourbon Street Steak at Applebee’s which is one of my fav to eat!!! And you can’t taste the Bourbon in it. It has been cooked out. I just don’t like the taste of alcohol. Never have. lol.

If you don’t like it, I don’t see any point in developing a taste for liquid calories. We don’t have to all enjoy the same pleasures.

As for vanilla extract, you can actually use nice flavorful bourbon essentially 1:1 as a substitute, if that’s what you have around. Don’t use scotch, though; it has a “peaty” flavor element that can clash with foods. Pretty much all of the rest of the liquor cabinet has its place in cooking, especially brandy (IMHO). Oh, and vermouth works as a substitute for dry white wine in cooking…I got this from Julia Child. The match is not exact, but the difference is usually just that: a difference, and not anything off-putting. Since you aren’t likely to have any use for the rest of a bottle of wine, which has a much shorter shelf-life than vermouth, that hint is worth filing away. The “fortified” wines (the ones with alcohol content up around 16-18%), like the sherries, can be kept on the shelf for cooking for quite a long time, whereas a bottle of wine can be a shadow of its former self even by the next day and certainly within 3-5 days. Also, be careful about using liquors such as triple sec, schnapps, or Kahlua to replace hard liquor or a flavor extract in a recipe. They have a simple syrup as a major component, so they work very differently in foods than liquors that aren’t so sugary.

Oh, and have you ever heard of “Beer Can Chicken”? You take a can of beer with a few additional holes punched in the top and maybe 4 oz poured out. You place a chicken on it, so the chicken can be put onto a grill with the can inside the cavity and the two legs steadying it into the “sitting upright” position. You can find lots of recipes for it; the main thing to know is that the identity of the beer is totally irrelevant. Cook’s Illustrated did tests, and it is a waste of high-end beer to use that instead of something really cheap. The flavor elements in the beer do not get into the chicken at all. It is the alcohol/carbonation thing that apparently keeps the chicken moist. (The white meat is almost too moist, sometimes–and soda pop didn’t work.) The can stays full of liquid, so the can doesn’t get any hotter than boiling, even over a hot grill. There is no evidence the paint on the can poses any danger.

 

[CatholicGeek1]

Is a Catholic banned from drinking alcoholic drinks such as beer? St. Paul declares that the drunks will not see the kingdom of heaven. Any answer from a Catholic view shall be welcome, thanks.

No, drunkenness is immoral. Drinking alcohol in moderation is not.

 

[Aelred_Minor]

Kind of new to beer, huh?

At its most basic level, beer is an alcoholic beverage made by brewing and fermentation from cereals, as opposed to wine, which is made from fruit (grapes or berries) or flowers (such as dandelion). Of the two, beer is believed to have been made earlier than wine, but both have been made from ancient times. (To make hard liquor, the alcoholic mixture achieved by fermentation of a starch or a fruit has to be distilled to a higher concentration of alcohol, because yeast can’t live in a solution where the alcohol content goes beyond about 14%.)

Most beer now is made from malted barley or malted wheat (that means the grain has been made to germinate before it was dried). The alcohol, or “high” comes when the grain is fermented by yeast that are grown in water with the grain as a food source; the yeast excrete alcohol as a by-product of breaking down the starches in the grain.

Hops are a flower–the female flower of Humulus Lupulus, the hops vine, to be specific–and an extract of the flower is added to beer as a flavoring agent and a preservative. Evidence for the use of hops in beer doesn’t exist earlier than 822. (The vine had other medicinal and practical uses before that.) Before the use of hops, beer had a short shelf life before it went sour, something less than two weeks.

It is hard to tell who was the first to put hops in beer. Much of the history of Western Europe can only be gleaned by what the monastics wrote. No one else who might have been able to write (and thus record) the specifics of daily life were likely to have written about practical things like that, and even less likely to have preserved their notes. It is known, however, that many of the innovators of that time were monks, and certainly the monasteries had the best system of sharing their discoveries with others, one monastery to the next.

Excellent account, though it’s still uncertain which came first, beer or wine. Since beer has changed more over the millennia, I would consider wine a more ancient beverage in a holistic sense. Also I personally don’t like calling anything not made from grapes “wine.” The word after all comes from the Latin vinum, which meant both and from which we get both our words “wine” and “vine.” I would call apple wine (which I don’t especially like) or cranberry wine (which I do) “wine” only inasmuch as malt beverages other than real beer can be called “beer”. The third ancient alcoholic beverage you failed to mention is mead, which is a wine-like drink made from honey and which was drunk in many parts of Europe before wine making reached them. For those of us of Northern descent its place in history and culture, including mythology, makes it a drink not to be missed. I dislike when it is called “honey wine” for the same reason as for other fruit wines; it is not “fruit of the vine.”

Then of course there is the Japanese “rice wine” sake, which is actually more like beer than wine in how it is made and in that it comes from a grain, but in a culinary and cultural sense it is more like wine.

 

[Aelred_Minor]

Excellent account, though it’s still uncertain which came first, beer or wine. Since beer has changed more over the millennia, I would consider wine a more ancient beverage in a holistic sense. Also I personally don’t like calling anything not made from grapes “wine.” The word after all comes from the Latin vinum, which meant both and from which we get both our words “wine” and “vine.” I would call apple wine (which I don’t especially like) or cranberry wine (which I do) “wine” only inasmuch as cider or malt beverages other than real beer can be called “beer”. The third ancient alcoholic beverage you failed to mention is mead, which is a wine-like drink made from honey and which was drunk in many parts of Europe before wine making reached them. For those of us of Northern descent its place in history and culture, including mythology, makes it a drink not to be missed. I dislike when it is called “honey wine” for the same reason as for other fruit wines; it is not “fruit of the vine.”

Then of course there is the Japanese “rice wine” sake, which is actually more like beer than wine in how it is made and in that it comes from a grain, but in a culinary and cultural sense it is more like wine.

 

[Aelred_Minor]

Oh yeah, and then there’s cider. Certainly would not want to call that a kind of wine just because it is made from fruit.