Beer Slang

bob-lg
In addition to drunk words and puke words, this list is slang for beer itself as well as other slang involving beer and/or alcohol more generally. Some entomological sources list the dates when there are records of the word being in use, and those are listed in parenthesis, along with any other additional information provided. If you know of one that’s not listed here, please drop me a note and I’ll add it. Thanks.

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Slang For Beer:

æfterealo (Old English; weak beer)
aiming fluid (when playing darts, pool, etc.)
amber brew
amber fluid
amber nectar
angels’ food (1577; strong ale)
audit ale (1823)
barley-bree (1786; strong ale)
barley-broth (1593-1884; strong ale)
barley pop
barley sandwich (lunchtime)
barley soda
barmy beer
bed-ale (1880)
belch (1706–1858; weak beer)
bing-ale (1735)
blue-cap (1822)
brew
brewage
brewski
brown bottle
bub (1671–1841; strong beer)
clerk-ale (1791)
cold coffee
cold one
Darby (1704–1719; ale)
ealu (Old English; ale)
entire (1825-1854; porter)
eyebright (1610)
flux ale (1742)
four-ale (1883)
fourpenny ale (1871)
frostie
frosty pop
gatter (1818–1851)
Germaine Greer (1990s; Australia)
glass sandwich
grout (1674; weak beer)
heavy (1823)
heavy wet (1821–1843)
hock-ale/hocking-ale (1484)
hop(s) (1929; Australia, New Zealand)
hop juice
huff (1790; strong ale)
huff-cap (1577–1630 + 1884; strong ale)
hugmatee (1699-1704)
hum (1616–1719; strong ale)
hum-cap (c. 1700; strong ale)
inky-pinky (1835–1842 Scotland; weak beer)
ipse (1719)
Jesus juice
karité (1706)
lamb-ale (1774)
laughing water (strong beer)
lift-leg (1587; strong ale)
liquid bread
mad dog (1577; strong ale)
malt liquor
mealtealoþ (Old English; ale)
merry-go-down (1500–1599; strong ale)
Morocco (1792; strong ale)
nappy (1743–1882; ale)
neck-oil (1860)
needle-beer (1928; strong beer)
ninepenny (1886)
nippitate (1575–1693; strong ale)
nippitaty (strong ale)
nipsitate (1639; strong ale)
oil
oil of barley (c. 1700)
oil of malt (1648-50)
old boy (1743; strong ale)
ostler-ale (1861)
penny-ale (1362–1544; cheap ale)
penny-wheep/penny-whip (1785–1821; Scotland; weak beer)
Pharaoh/Old Pharaoh (1683–1839; strong ale)
pig’s ear (1880)
Pimlico (1670)
pongelo/pongelow (1864)
pudding-ale (1377; cheap ale)
servoice (1483; ale)
sherbet
sixteens (1584)
slop(s) (1904)
stingo (1635; strong ale)
stitch (1742; strong ale)
stitchback (1671–1719; strong ale)
strike-me-dead (1824; Nautical; weak beer)
strong barley-water (1625; ale)
suds (1904)
swankey/swanky (1841)
swatan (Old English)
swats (1508; Scotland; new ale)
swing oil (when playing golf)
swipes (1821–1895)
tangle-leg(s) (1880)
tap-lash (1623–1828; weak beer)
tinnie/tinny
tipper (1844)
turps (1945; Australia)
twibrowen ealoþ (Old English)
twoops (1729)
twopenny ale (1710–1819)
vitamin B
voiding beer (c. 1600; beer drunk on departure)
wallop (1933)
whip-belly (1731–1847; weak beer)
wylisc eala (Old English)
yeoman ale (1532; second-quality ale)
yill (1785; Scotland; ale)

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Types of Beer (Generally Obsolete):

aleberry (1420–1630)
aleboly (c. 1500)
ale-brue (1542)
ale-meat (1699)
barley-beer (1901)
berkyne (1436)
bragget (c. 1386)
bragoes (1605)
Burton ale (1738)
butt-beer (1713–1771)
butter-ale (1666)
buttered ale (1764-1789)
buttered beer (1532–1547)
chang/chong (c. early 1800s)
china-ale (1659–1713)
four/four-shilling beer (1633)
horse-radish ale (1664)
Lubecks beer (1608–1639)
mace-ale (1611–1676)
March beer (1576–1704)
molasses beer (1742–1839)
mum (1640)
mum-beer (1672–1783)
nog (1693)
October beer (1708–1855)
old six (1890–1898)
persimmon/’simmon beer (c. 1775; United States)
peterman (1767)
rough (1946)
sage-ale (1584-1597)
seamen’s beer (1795)
ship-beer (1706)
six/sixes (1631–1785)
spruce beer (1500–1690)
starting-beer (1742)
stock beer (1826)
treble X (1856)
vinegar beer (1677)
wormwood-ale (1603–1665)
wormwood-beer (c. early 1600s)
wrest-beer (c. 1654)

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Other Beer Slang:

alcohol abuse: spilling beer
baby beer: macro beer from a big brewery
beer bitch: the person obligated to fetch beer for a person
beer blinders: see “beer goggles”
beer goggles: phenomenon in which the consumption of alcohol makes physically unattractive persons appear beautiful
bitch slap: mixing a 6-pack in the store
block: 30-pack
bomber: 24 oz. package
breaking the seal: urinating for the first time during a drinking session
brick: 12-pack
Britney Spears: light beer
bullet: 22 oz. bottle
buzzkill: something which destroys a buzz, and causes sober thoughts and loss of enjoyment
cheerleaders: beer bottles
church key: bottle opener
depth charge: 24 oz. can
DD: designated driver
double deuce: 22 oz. package
frontloading: drinking before going out to a club/bar/etc., usually due to cost
guest beer: beer from another brewery available temporarily
ponies: 7 oz. bottles
pot-valiant: bold or courageous under the influence of alcohol
roadside olympics: field sobriety test
road soda: beer for the ride
silo: 24 oz. beer can (Iowa)
slab: case of beer (Australia)
snappy: SNPA = Sierra Nevada Pale Ale
soldiers: beer bottles
- bayoneting the wounded: finishing the “wounded soldiers” the next morning
- dead man: a bottle emptied of beer, wine, or liquor; also: an empty beer can
- dead soldiers: empty beer bottles
- deserter: full bottle lost but found the next day
- fallen soldiers: empty beer bottles
- grenade: partially full beer left unfinished
- one for the road: a last drink before leaving
- POW: a beer you were saving for yourself but was taken from the refrigerator
- spent cartridges: empty beer bottles
- straggler: last bottle in the refrigerator
- wounded soldiers: partially full but abandoned beer bottles
stringer: 6-pack of cans
symposium: originally meant “a drinking party; especially one following a banquet and providing music, singing and conversation
tall boy: 24 oz. can
time traveling: blacking out
two four: case of beer (Canada)
2 x 4: 24 oz. beer

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Foreign Beer & Other Slang:

Borrel: Dutch. Informal party or revelry.
Desbundar: Portuguese. Shedding one’s inhibitions and having fun.
Dilshaadgii (دلشادگی): Urdu. Gladness, or good cheer.
Feierabend: German. Festive mood at the end of a working day.
Gemütlichkeit: German. Describes a space or state of warmth, friendliness, and good cheer. Other qualities include coziness, peace of mind, belonging, well being, and social acceptance.
Gjærkauk: Norwegian. Yeast scream, a custom they have in Stjørdalen, Norway is to scream into the fermenter as they pitch the yeast. Brewers claim they do this so that the beer will be strong, and people will be cheerful when they drink it.
Kayf (کیف): Urdu. Merriment, or revelry.
Parea (Παρέα): Greek. Informal party, or revelry.
Ramé: Balinese. Something at once chaotic and joyful.
Sahar (سهر): Arabic. Informal party, or revelry.
Schnapsidee: German. A daft or ridiculous plan thought up while drunk.
Süffig: German. A beer that is full-flavored while remaining highly drinkable.
Utepils: Norwegian. A beer that is enjoyed outside, particularly on the first hot day of the year.
Xurramii (خرمی): Urdu. Merriment, or revelry.

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Slang For Alcohol (Generally & Other Than Beer):

alcohol
alky
beast (cheap alcohol)
booze
bouse/bowse (c. 1300–1736)
bug juice
burning water (1460-70)
canned heat
do it juice
dwale (c. 1300–1606)
elbow health
felony juice (tequila)
fire water
fogram (1867; nautical)
fuddle (1680–1706; Scotland)
giggle water
hard drink
hooch
inebrient
intoxicant
jollop (1920)
joy juice
juice
junkst (cheap alcohol)
liquid courage
liquor
liþ (Old English)
lunatic soup (1933; Australia, New Zealand)
malt pie (1600)
medicine
moonshine
nose-paint (1880)
o-be-joyful
plonk (cheap wine)
poison
rabbit (1895; Australia)
red-eye (cheap alcohol, originally whisky)
rookus-juice (1929)
rosin (1734)
rotgut (cheap alcohol)
sauce
shot
sicera (Old English)
slug
snootful
social lubricant
spicket (1615–1654)
stimulant
suck (c. 1700)
swill
tart fuel (especially alcopops, cider)
tear-brain (1796)
tickle-brain (1596–1639)
tiddly (1859)
tipplage (1653)
tipple
toddy
wobbly pop
yak (Cognac)

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Other Alcohol Slang:

amethyst: at one time, the stone was considered to effectively ward off the effects of alcohol. The name amethyst comes from the ancient Greek word amethystos, “remedy against drunkenness.”
Angel’s Share: an amount of an alcoholic drink (such as cognac, brandy, or whiskey) that is lost to evaporation when the liquid is being aged in porous oak barrels.
antifogmatic: a drink of liquor taken to counteract the effect of fog or dampness
barfly: a person, usually female, seeking attention at a bar.
boozehound: a person who likes to drink, and often does so to extreme.
gall-breaker: about half a pint of ardent spirits.
gum-ticklers: a gill of spirits, generally rum, taken fasting.
hair of the dog: drinking the day after drinking, while hungover, with the aim of lessening the hangover and/or rallying back to feeling better.
jackroller: one who robs a drunken or sleeping person.
katzenjammer: the nausea, headache, and debility that often follow dissipation or drunkenness.
musth: a periodic state of murderous frenzy of the bull elephant usually connected with the rutting season and marked by the exudation of a dark brown odorous ichor from tiny holes above the eyes.
phlegm-cutter: a double dose just before breakfast.
souse: someone who drinks to excess.
Vandyke: to stagger, weave, or wander in the zigzag course of one drunken or irresolute.
wet your whistle: to have a drink.

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Slang for Bars:

Gin Mill: bar (1920s)
joint: bar (1920s)
juice joint: bar, esp. a speakeasy (1920s)
speakeasy: an illegal bar during Prohibition