The Lazarus Effect

I wonder if science has tried to explain the restorative properties of opening an ice cold beer after a long day’s work?  Certainly, from a physical standpoint, hydration and temperature are key elements, but I would posit that the process itself is an equally important element to the satisfaction one feels.  The fact that you are drinking a beer is a tacit acknowledgement that the day’s work is over (well, most of the time), the toils of the moment behind you.  You sit back and tell stories about the days deeds and misadventures with your comrades, wondering if life can get any sweeter.  Beyond the pure enjoyment of sudsy, delicious beer, it can be an incredible motivator, a lifter of spirits, like some great, tin, blue-mountained carrot on a stick, that can resuscitate even the most haggard and despondent of crews.  Hence the old adage, “It takes a lot of beer to make good wine.”