More dot-coms are embracing the idea of drinking at work

The issue is inebriation, not time of day ....

This happened during the dot com era. Beer busts, Friday afternoons initially, but expanding into other time slots, were the norm. Then HR and legal started looking at liability issues and the frequency of such events dropped off. We'd go out to local bars instead, and there the workday ended.

Companies do a lot to keep employees at, or near, their desks to get additional work out of them. Some of these benefits appear to work well, but I have doubts about providing alcohol. Productivity drops, inhibitions drop, liability rises. Better to say "Ok, time to go home, or at least elsewhere."