context: beer with less than 10% alcohol had been considered a foodstuff, and was thus regulated like softdrinks in regards to where it could be sold and consumed. (also drinking ages.) with alcohol abuse on the rise (in particular, a rise in people getting drunk on beer instead of harder alcohol like vodka,) they redefined the limits.
beer with less than 0.5% alcohol is considered a softdrink in America, mind you. (most "non-alcoholic' beers are in fact just such low alcohol varieties of beer)
most of europe treated beer not too different from Russia up till the start of the industrial revolution.. beer with lower than average alcohol amounts (either through careful brewing or just being watered down) was acceptable for everyone to drink, even kids, in large part because the water just wasn't all that safe. tea, wine, and other options were there obviously, but beer was cheap and common, unlike everything else. once sanitation and water quality improved, beer as a 'soft drink' (a term originally used to refer to drinks with low alcohol content specifically, same origin as the term 'hard liquor') stopped being as socially acceptable. especially once the temperance movements started up, and Beer was seen as a gateway to harder spirits like Whiskey and Rum.
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context: beer with less than 10% alcohol had been considered a foodstuff, and was thus regulated like softdrinks in regards to where it could be sold and consumed. (also drinking ages.) with alcohol abuse on the rise (in particular, a rise in people getting drunk on beer instead of harder alcohol like vodka,) they redefined the limits.
beer with less than 0.5% alcohol is considered a softdrink in America, mind you. (most "non-alcoholic' beers are in fact just such low alcohol varieties of beer)
most of europe treated beer not too different from Russia up till the start of the industrial revolution.. beer with lower than average alcohol amounts (either through careful brewing or just being watered down) was acceptable for everyone to drink, even kids, in large part because the water just wasn't all that safe. tea, wine, and other options were there obviously, but beer was cheap and common, unlike everything else. once sanitation and water quality improved, beer as a 'soft drink' (a term originally used to refer to drinks with low alcohol content specifically, same origin as the term 'hard liquor') stopped being as socially acceptable. especially once the temperance movements started up, and Beer was seen as a gateway to harder spirits like Whiskey and Rum.