Turns out drinking beer could help you think clearly, by Shaun Walker.

Researchers say “mild intoxication” helped drinkers relax and cleared mental blocks. …

A group of 70 volunteers aged 19 to 32 took a series of tests before and after downing a pint of alcohol-free beer or one containing 5.2 percent booze. They then watched a half-hour documentary on South Africa before taking a series of tests.

This included a game where participants had to find a common connection between words. For example, when told “cottage, blue, and cake,” the answer is “cheese.”

Those who drank beer performed better in the test after boozing than before. And those given the alcohol-free variety saw no improvement.

But the drinkers also saw their concentration and memory suffer in other experiments. …

“Alcohol may reduce fixation effects by loosening the focus of attention and therefore impede the building and maintenance of dominant but inappropriate thoughts.”

For thoughts on programming and alcohol.