When It's Okay to Drink a Beer Before Noon

A lot of people have rules of thumb about when in the day it is appropriate to start drinking. 5:30 or 6 pm seems to be the general rule with the occasional beer with lunch. But, are there good reasons for having a beer before noon? Here are a few justifications people use for some ante meridiem indulgence.

Vacation

If you are a flop-on-the-beach or sink-into-a-hammock kind of vacationer, there is nothing wrong with cracking a beer open to help you get your relaxation on. Most of us only have one or two weeks a year that we can use for an actual vacation. Oh, sure, we might have more “vacation days” than that on the books back at the office but, let’s face it, many of them go down the tubes of life obligations. So, on those precious few real vacation days, why not have a beer with breakfast?

Holidays

One might be tempted to lump holidays with vacation days but they are very different. Consequently, getting permission to have that a.m. beer is very different on holidays than on real vacation days. There is nothing relaxing about the holidays. In fact, there’s actually quite a lot of pressure.

If you are playing host, then you have the pressure of preparing that perfect traditional meal, making sure the house is ready for company, hoping that the nieces, nephews, and grandkids break fewer lamps this year than they did last, and generally entertaining your guests. That’s an excuse for morning lager.

If you’re not playing host, then you probably had to drive quite a distance to get to your holiday destination. Packing the kids, the gifts—if it’s that kind of holiday—and yourself in the car at 4 am was no fun. Once you finally arrive, you are with your family. Now, we all love our families but, well, you know how they can be. If it seems like it might help you relax a bit, have a beer!

Game Day

Whether you are tailgating or just warming up for the Sunday game on TV at home, everyone gets a pre-noon pass for drinking a beer with the game. Whatever your game day food ritual is—hot wings, cold cuts, chili dogs, pizza, etc.—these foods pair well with a beer, so don’t be ashamed if the sun hasn’t reached its zenith yet before you decide to open one.

Night-Shift Work

Every town has its own proper dive bar. If you ever happen to get there in the morning, you might encounter folks who have just gotten off work from the graveyard shift and have stopped in for a beer before pouring themselves into bed. After hearing a few their stories, you realize that these people of the best excuse of anyone for having a beer as early in the morning!

Brew Day

This is the special homebrewers’ exception. Nothing else is going to happen on brew day, especially if you are an all-grain brewer. Dragging out the equipment, sterilizing it, setting it up and, later, tearing it down, cleaning it, and storing it takes so much of the day that it can seem like the brewing itself is secondary to cleaning and equipment maintenance. So, starting the day off with a homebrew from your last batch to remind you why you’re doing this is fine by us.