Beer
annelibby.wordpress.com
annelibby.wordpress.com
Like a lot of things, I think beer is fine if you're adult about it. We've got quite a lot of beer in our Chicago office (we haul crates from Russian River and Three Floyds and Jolly Pumpkin). But nobody drinks while they work, and nobody drinks whole bottles; we open a bottle and a bunch of people taste. If it's Friday, we might open a couple bottles.
I can't imagine this creating a problem. For one thing, nobody's getting drunk. For another, nobody is OK with disrupting anyone else's work. And finally, I don't think many people here would be sanguine about seeing someone get harassed. On the other hand, maybe that's because so many of us are parents.
Maybe there's an argument that your culture needs to be mature enough to handle beer, and maybe there's an argument that if you've got kegs and people are drinking during the working afternoon, that's a sign that maybe the maturity isn't there.
There are a very long list of things that are typically prohibited at work that would be fine "if you're an adult about it." There's a crossover point at which the population of workers becomes large enough that it is difficult or impossible to impose the "be an adult" requirement. The arbiters of responsibility cannot be within reach of all behavior, and thus we mitigate the opportunity for irresponsibly by removing factors that contribute to irresponsible behavior.
I'm of mixed opinion on it. I don't like the idea of saying "this is fine for one organization, but not for another", but that's kind of the reality. If the focus of your business is building a business, you have to sit down and evaluate how the presence of alcohol in the workplace serves that goal (or detracts from it). Yes, it may be a very valuable perk to some employees, but it also has the potential to be a big problem. Even moderate consumption (I know you're not advocating this) is known to alter judgement and lower inhibition.
American society is overly fond of one size fits all rules - that on one hand end up with adults being treated like children, and the dumbing down of culture and a restricting oeveryone's rights to protect the few from bad decisions - and on the other hand end up with overwatered cacti and tons of other kinds of shoddy work practices, and resulting products, because of a culture of not thinking just following the rules.
Neither of these problems are overwhelming - but fighting back with a realistic view of the world is simple, and effective at avoiding a whole mess of problems.
Of course this is it. I'm teetotal and I have never found it alarming that my fellow hackers love a beer. There are too many aggressive proselytiser factions in the tech community. Why can't we accept that we are all different and make allowances for that. Of course as a white, British, heterosexual, able-bodied, 20-something male, my opinion is given a -∞ weighting.
Are you serious?
Talk to just about any attorney, and it won't take him or her more than a minute to rattle off a laundry list of scenarios that could literally turn your business upside down in an instant. Your question, "Is the subtext here about hostile frat culture, or, worse, about harassment?" suggests that you have some idea of what can go wrong but frankly, a hostile work environment and harassment claims are just the tip of the iceberg.
If you think defenses like "nobody seemed drunk", "nobody was drinking whole bottles", "we always drank responsibly" or "it was Friday" are going to protect you, you're wrong. The involvement of any amount of alcohol in a work-related "incident" will leave your company vulnerable.
No business can eliminate all risk, but some risks are unnecessary and easily eliminated. Serving alcohol to employees creates a significant amount of potential legal liability (it could literally bankrupt your company) but it is hard to reasonably and objectively argue that the potential liabilities are outweighed by any of the potential benefits.
The potential benefits of allowing responsible alcohol consumption might be more than you think, if it helps provide a relaxed atmosphere where people want to go to work and are less likely to jump ship to your competitor for a marginal pay increase.
Providing alcohol to your employees or permitting them to consume alcohol on the job or at a company-sponsored event creates a whole host of potential liabilities. Here are a couple of real-world examples:
http://www.riskandinsurance.com/story.jsp?storyId=533353814
http://www.mmdnewswire.com/faapuna-mac-manu-mahoney-law-grou...
If you believe that alcohol is a good way to create a "relaxed atmosphere" let me assure you: there's nothing relaxing about watching your insurance premiums skyrocket, spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on attorneys, paying millions of dollars in damages and/or living with the fact that you were involved in an incident during which someone was seriously hurt or lost his or her life.
It is interesting that there doesn't seem to be the lawsuit worry or even the worry about "living with the fact that you were involved in an incident during which someone was seriously hurt or lost his or her life" at European companies.
Keep in mind that when a lawsuit is filed, the strength of your defense doesn't matter if you don't have the funds to pay a quality attorney. In many kinds of cases, you can easily rack up tens of thousands of dollars in legal bills before you even begin to address substantive matters, and plaintiff's counsel has no incentive to approach the matter in a fashion that reduces your costs.
[1] http://www.xperthr.com/news/marriott-ruling-highlights-risks...
[2] http://www.tprglaw.com/wolowsky-v-bum-steer-restaurants-inc
One potential benefit - you signal to employees that your workplace is fun. Many growing companies will die if they don't get the right talent. Compare the large risk of getting the wrong people to the tiny risk of an employee getting drunk and raping/murdering everyone, and the calculus is far from clear.
Are their attorneys incompetent?
1. Many clients ignore the advice they're given.
2. Big companies spend lots of money settling lawsuits that could have been completely avoided.
A six or seven-figure lawsuit, which may require tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars to defend, is an inconvenience at a billion dollar company. It can be the end of a startup or small business.
This said, the type of advice that I was referring to pertains to legal compliance and best practices in the context of running a business. Example:
1. An employer is advised by counsel that it must or should keep certain records.
2. It, for whatever reason, fails to do so.
3. As a result of its failure, it is fined, or is less able to defend itself in a lawsuit.
This sort of thing happens. Every single day. The only thing being taken to the bank is money that employers never had to part with in the first place.
It's funny because your response is very hostile, but we actually agree. I see how fraught alcohol in the workplace is. It's clear to me how it could cause problems. I have what I think is a fairly deep appreciation for the kinds of people that I work with, and I can make considered judgements based on that understanding.
But I definitely don't have a one-size-fits-all prescription for how to handle it. Other people on this thread talk about the glasses of beer they drink in meetings in the afternoon; I followed some teammates down on one of their smoke breaks and asked about it, and they were unanimous in judging that atmosphere frat-y. If you're routinely drinking substantially during the workday, I'm worried about your culture too. But: maybe you understand your team better than I do.
If I was in an office full of people I'd only known for 3-9 months, I'd probably be on the "no drinking in the office" side of this issue too.
Also, the idea (which I'm getting from this thread) that beer is an expected perk of startup dev jobs makes me a little queasy.
For better or worse, if I want to grab a beer with a co-worker to talk about something informal, there's something to be said for doing it out of the building. Of course it helps that there are half a dozen spots within 2 blocks.
Personally I hate ties. I hope I'll never have to work at a place where I'd be forced to wear a tie. Yet I am not calling for all offices to ban ties.
> Like a lot of things, I think guns are fine if you're adult about it. We've got quite a lot of guns in our Chicago office...
(I'm sorry, did I misquote you?) Just because some things are fine if you're adult about it, doesn't make them appropriate at the office.
Why would you have alcohol in an office?
> But nobody drinks while they work (...) so many of us are parents
So they're at the office, not working, and drinking beer. If their work is done (it has to be since you can't work after beer) why don't they go home to their family and kids?
(I'm sorry, did I misquote your misquote?) Just because some things aren't fine if you're adult about it, doesn't make all things inappropriate at the office.
Why would you have coffee in the office? What about all the people who can't drink coffee, because of their religious beliefs(Mormons), or because they have cardiovascular conditions which prevent them from intaking coffee?
> If their work is done (it has to be since you can't work after beer) why don't they go home to their family and kids?
It seems you have a very unhealthy relationship with beer. You seem to think that the only reason to drink beer is to get drunk. Are you really saying that it isn't possible to work after drinking one beer? And are you really saying that people who are parents shouldn't be wasting their time socializing with coworkers, and they need to just shuttle immediately from the office to their family once work is done?
I'm not saying that and I'm not thinking that either. I don't like beer very much but I drink it occasionally. I prefer wine.
> Are you really saying that it isn't possible to work after drinking one beer?
Yes, I'm saying that, absolutely. You (I) can't do creative thinking (or any kind of thinking) after one glass of alcoholic beverage.
> And are you really saying that people who are parents shouldn't be wasting their time socializing with coworkers, and they need to just shuttle immediately from the office to their family once work is done?
Yes, I'm kind of saying that too. I don't think "socializing with coworkers" is very healthy. Friends are friends, coworkers are coworkers. Just because I'm in an office with other people doesn't make them my "friends".
If friendships develop, then great! and we can meet outside of work. But drinking together while at work but not working, in front of the boss, is not my idea of a good time.
I think it's mostly the boss's idea of a good time; it makes him think he has so many friends! But they're not his friends, he's paying them to be there.
I believe you might be incorrect. I recently read that a moderate amount of alcohol (~2 beers, which in my mind is a lot...) led test subjects to perform BETTER at tests of creativity. [1]
You or I might not want to work after having alcohol (I'd rather nap), but apparently it can help some people. It's not inconceivable that one might have some beer, and then go back to work for another hour or so.
For example: • I work best in the early mornings - does this mean everyone should come in from 5am? • I find it hard to work at a stand-up desk - nobody can use stand up desks anymore, sorry. • I feel drained after going to the gym before work - nobody can go to the gym before work, it will stifle your creative thinking. • Wearing long pants (versus shorts) makes me uncomfortable (i.e. unproductive) - no more long pants in the office.
If they make me unproductive - fine. That's me. As for making it a company issue - tell me which of the above options go beyond personal preference.
Sex is not fine in the workplace thus porn is not fine.
What's wrong with guns at the office? So long as you are complying with all laws I don't see the problem.
What's wrong with coworkers being friends and hanging out for a bit after work on a Friday?
I don't even know what to say about porn in the office. In 19 years working in this field, that is an issue that has never come up (unlike guns).
I'm not advocating bringing guns at the office, I'm advocating not giving free alcohol to your employees!!
I don't see what possible good could come from drinking at work, but I see a lot of bad.
I think it fits into the greater "culture" of a workplace, and is at most a symptom of the problem and not the answer. If a CTO thinks his ads are appearing "sexist," the problem must go deeper than the keg in the break room (which is just the most obvious sign of immaturity.)
Whereas a keg just says "Drink up, there's plenty more".
Either way, I think that having beer in the office is less of a perk and more of a culture indicator. In one easy move you've made the company looked relaxed and friendly. You don't even have to be drinking the beer regularly, just have it available for special occasions or somesuch.
There's no company policy that keeps the fridge stocked; it's something that arose organically from the people that work in this office. Our MTV and NYC offices don't routinely have beer (the MTV office has the empties of the Dark Lord we bring them when we get out there).
A deliberate company policy of keeping the office plied with alcohol sounds to me like another one of those signals that maybe your company's relationship with alcohol is a bit fraught. (But that's easy for me to say; maybe I just like to drink so much that I can't see how fraught my existing relationship with drinking is? Who knows.)
Is there anyone in your office who doesn't partake? Mormons, Moslems, Baptists, alcoholics, people who just don't care for beer?
If beer in an office is causing issues it's because someone doesn't know their limits, and that is an entirely individualized and likely very marginalized issue. The author's immediate correlation of beer and "frat culture" is easily the most sexist thing I've read this week, and the implication that "raging hormones and inexperience" combined with an occasional afternoon beer automatically means I become a raging pervert bent on harassing any woman in sight is ludicrous.
Culture decisions should be in the best interests of everyone in the office. If you have one recovering alcoholic in the office, or one person who might act irresponsibly...
This little harmless perk becomes a massive liability, and more importantly...is completely unnecessary and possibly inappropriate.
We're not children, we're adults. Generally people know how to drink responsibly, if they choose to drink at all, and while I'm aware that there are a very large number of people who do not they are still very much a minority, else there would be pandemonium in the streets every time a liquor store comes to town.
As others here have already pointed out, if you go to a lawyer and ask for an enumerated list of everything in your office that could become a "massive liability" then you'll probably decide to just shutter the doors before the list is even half completed.
Stop applying unfounded "what if" morals to a perfectly legal and benign office perk. Trying to act in the "best interests of everyone" will ultimately serve no one, your office will end up being another cookie cutter cubicle farm that the legal department has determined is the statistically least likely (but not entirely!) to cause problems and all your talent will eventually get tired and move on to greener pastures.
It seems a lot of startups ignore these issues for a hope of garnering another scoop from the talent pool.
I'm a guy and I could care less about if there is beer or not in the office. If anything it's a signal that the company is trying to look cool. It doesn't mean that the company is in fact a cool place to work.
Also, it is completely sexist to say that beer is the fault of guys or that it is keeping women away. The place where I worked where they had beer on tap, just as many women drank as men. Many of the women were as vocal about supporting the beer keg as the guys were, so even though it is popular to claim that it's a gender thing, it's not.
Some people like beer in the office some don't. I don't think gender has a lot to do with it. Alcohol consumption is very much a personal preference that doesn't correlate well with gender from what I can tell.
But, alcohol and soda are not on a par - only one impairs your ability to think, act and discuss properly[1].
[1] yeah yeah tolerances, but ultimately it's wearing down peoples inhibitions - we're definitely more likely to be rude (or accidentally rude) when drunk.
So are endless meetings, endless emails, emergencies at 4:55p on a Friday, upper management, the phase of the moon, and tidal activity.
We get it. Your vision of "professional" explicitly doesn't allow for any kind of alcohol ever, but how about not dictating that for everyone else, eh?
I don't understand why companies don't promote an ice cream culture. Have custom flavors available throughout the day, a stocked freezer, etc. Sit back and have a sundae while discussing code problems. Try new toppings/sauces now and then, etc.
I don't drink beer. When I was younger, it was mostly a financial issue. As I'm older, I just don't like the taste. "Oh! But try this one - it's got a bold whatever with a hint of foo aftertaste". I don't care. It's beer. If it tasted so radically different from beer, it would be called something else. It's still beer.
Tech conferences often revolve around a subcontext of beer. "Let's go grab a beer!" Beers provided at open bars. Etc. I get it - it's a social lubricant. But... it's so ingrained in many cultures and subcultures (much like sports) that not participating is an odd signal. With more pushy types, ordering a non-beer gets a weird look and I have to explain myself multiple times. I shouldn't have to.
Ordering food, there's generally no such pushback - even vegans at the table generally don't say anything when I order a chicken sandwich. But order a water or coke when the rest of the table's ordering specialty beers, and 7 times out of 10 there's someone who questions you.
Again... I don't get the beer culture, and would love to see it replaced with nothing, or something else like ice cream.
EDIT: Sometimes people ask me if my non-beer attitude is a religious thing. It's not. I occasionally drink alcohol (wine/spirits) because I like the taste.
EDIT 2: What I was trying to get at above was that promoting a beer culture will necessarily be somewhat exclusionary, and some people may be on the defensive or feel like 'outsiders' at the outset. If you know you're doing that - you only want to hire people with a shared love of beer - that's great. But... that's probably not the point of your business. For pintlabs.com, for example, that is the point of their business (local startup focusing on beer - gentle plug for them)
I do wonder if there's an extra insurance companies would have to pay if the insurers were aware that alcohol was provided for free on their premises. I tried to have an alcohol at an event and had to get extra insurance, provide security, had hard limits on amounts, and a strict 1 hour time limit.
The moment some SV-tech hipster beer fan gets killed driving home, there's going to be a big public about face. Or maybe not, we seem to be able to sustain a female-hostile culture in the face of plenty of bad events continually cropping up. Maybe alcohol related deaths would be ignored too... ?
I've had one or two unpleasant encounters with people who truly can't accept that all beer tastes bad to me. One person went so far as to tell me that you can't dislike beer if you like bread because, you know, beer is just liquid bread. I've since learned to just never bring up my distaste for beer except possibly on forums like this. I'm sure there are more of us out there who just keep quiet about it.
Bleh. I like that ice cream idea much better.
I dunno is the "I don't drink" stigma a US thing? The people I know who don't drink in Canada don't seem to have a hard time of it.
Either way I don't see why we can't say to each their own _and_ help those with alcohol issues to get help without judging. Oh and especially call out harassment no matter the reason or cause because no. Too much to ask?
If that is too hard for an organization well then it has some serious room for improvement.
That said, not having beer at work would never be a deal breaker for me.
I'm fine with "to each his own", except... I'm not sure having kegs or company-provided beers in the office is an equal-footing sort of thing. Company-supplied alcohol is a tacit endorsement of that, and seems to foster a strange atmosphere at some companies.
That could cause problems too: http://youtu.be/e5i6BHBuqxE?t=2m44s
(Though in fairness, in the video it's Tofutti, not ice cream.)
And i hope i don't need to comment on that "devs need beer" thing, c'mon, childish stuff.
Does a subset of the employee likes beer? Ok, let's go outside to taste some nice craft beer after work. I don't see anything wrong with that.
Just to add another data point, when i worked for an US multinational in Italy i clearly remember there was a rule against introducing alcoholics in the workplace, each place has its rules.
My point was just that in Europe drinking on the workplace isn't common or usually allowed and, at least from where i come from, i don't feel people in general are complaining about the lack of alcohol in the office. Finding beer and wine in the canteen, just for lunch, is instead quite common.
At least in our case it seemed to be more of a social experience for different groups of the company to relax and talk to each other, as the company was maybe 25% devs, not everyone got to regularly work with others from other departments. Sure we could have all gone out to a bar but most bars nearby were always packed with the afterwork crowd making just walking around talking to each other a huge chore (think near the front of a concert style packed).
I'm not sure what I think. I've drunk alcohol in the office that had beer as a way of thinking through a problem. It worked. I also know a few engineers and other tech people who are alcoholics, and have admitted to me they spent serious time (and still do) in AA. I'm not sure the continual serving beer at pretty much every tech event I've ever been to is good for their careers. I'm 90% sure theire are events where they just bow out of because of temptation reasons (not every event, but still) I personally wouldn't mind a dry event just for calorie count/i don't need it reasons on occasion.
I also know that other countries drinking during the day is much more normal (an example here :http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/money/industries/food/2010-04... ) I also think other countries have very different feelings towards alcohol. The US still has some puritan motifs in its alcohol culture.
Finally, the one thing that does bother me - beer in tech companies usually means they want you to be there 24/7. Fine, ok - but you can do business elsewhere. For all you know interacting with some bartender may help you - and it isn't going to happen if your work life is also your social life, as implied by the kegs.
This is very true, and includes other benefits too. Dinner is a cheap price for a few hours of developer time. Laundry service? Much cheaper than a few hours of developer time. Package delivery at the office? Again much cheaper...
Further, productivity drops if you work 24/7.
On a personal level - time for other things (including laundry) outside of work does make me more productive because it gives me to time to think about work. The mind relaxes and you make connections you would not otherwise.
Any perk that gives me time back is a good one, whether or not I invest the time in the office or elsewhere. I'd rather play with my kids than fold clothes.
Personally I find my productivity increases up to about 50 hours, and then drops slowly until about 60, when it falls off the cliff. Different people hit it at different times.
Reasons #1 through #999: I'd like to have a beer.
Why do freedom of choice and personal responsibility never factor into these types of blog posts? This entire thing reads "I don't want beer, so you can't have beer."
I was fixing some bugs last night. And I was drinking a pint of Wall's End[1] at the same time. I felt zero effects from the alcohol (it's a 4.8% session brown ale), the bugs got fixed, and the sun rose in the east this morning.
[1] http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/30076/89553 If you're in Minneapolis / St. Paul, and you like brown ales, get some of this.
Small doses of alcohol actually improve mood and cognitive performance[1]. Athletic too but that's less relevant.
If some people like it, let them have it. What happened to "live and let live"? If some people like more frat-like atmosphere, why not let them gravitate towards those places?
I personally find that I get tired with alcohol, and while my creativity may go up, my focus goes down. As such, I don't like alcohol at lunch, but that's a personal choice.
On a more serious note, I don't get the point of this post.
Beer and pizza being listed in job adverts? Yeah, that's a sign that the job itself isn't actually attractive enough to draw people in. Second, I for one wouldn't want to work anywhere that had a continuous supply of beer and pizza. Maybe as a friday afternoon event.
Beer and sexism? I don't see it. For one, women drink beer too. Although to be honest, not everyone's into beer; "drinks" would be a better term. Good wine, for example.
Beer and immature, juvenile 'frat boy' behaviour? Only if you're working with immature, juvenile frat boys. We have beer at the office (I work offsite though, curse you consultancy!), but nobody drinks during the week days, and most people just want to go home at 5 on fridays. Maybe they have a beer at 4. But most just want to go home to their families and pasttimes.
It really depends on a lot of factors, and whether your job is a place where you go to work, or something that doubles as your entire social life. or something.
If people, as hinted at in the article, drink tons of beer during their working hours, then those people have a problem, imho. Who here does? Also, does the author have experience working in a place that serves beer during working hours? Or people that become complete tards when they've had a couple?
If you come into work on monday morning and everyone is already onto their 3rd Carlsberg export by 12:30 then I can see why that might cause problems.
OTOH companies that I've worked at that have kept beer in the fridge it has always been something that might be enjoyed with lunch on a friday or at 7PM when one has stayed a little late finishing some milestone on a project before heading home (assuming they are not driving).
(Not writing this in defense of alcohol at the office. Personally, I like it. But I can see the other side as well.)
Soda and junk food aren't great either, why not complain about them?
And we don't have bottles. We have a keg.
Honestly, the free soda is a much more legitimate issue than the free beer. The beer has caused no problems and I don't know of anybody who overconsumes it. The soda, though, is unhealthy and far too easy to overconsume. I've been guilty of that myself.
And beer especially is loaded with gender baggage as the drink for choice for men. In light of all the recent discussion about gender equality in tech (not to mention "rape culture") having a keggerator in the office can easily be construed as throwing your company's hat in the male-privilege ring. Beer enjoys a better reputation than liquor, at least, but would the conversation change if the office stocked wine? Or drink with the opposite gender stereotypes, like maybe strawberry margaritas on tap?
I like beer (and homebrewing) and have no problem with it in the office. But I'm a young, white, male, developer; so no surprise there. It would appear I am who these companies (think they) want to attract and retain.
But assuming my demographic is not the only one who should feel comfortable in the office, I could see erring on the side of sensitivity and "professionalism", and not having beer on tap in the office.
Maybe after a hard day, a beer happens. But never, ever, ever during.
Frankly, If you think you can work and drink, you’re mixing business with pleasure. Never a good call.
Having a drink at work at the end of the day is a nice option to have, especially if there’s something to be thankful for (we fixed the issue, so-and-so is having a baby etc). It’s a case of knowing when it’s appropriate, and when it isn’t. If you don’t know when it’s appropriate to have a casual beer your sensibilities are way off. Worse, if you think it’s ok to be flat-out drunk in the office then you probably shouldn’t have a job at all.
It’s not beer’s fault. Nobody forces you to drink it, either in small or large doses.
I agree with all the author's points. But I have worked several places with not only beer, but liquor on hand. Nobody got drunk, nobody acted like an asshat (more than they were sober). They were responsible.
Is that going to be the case all the time? Probably not. But then again, some workplaces are always just more shitty to work in than others, and when you encounter it you decide if you need to move on or not. It's unlikely that beer would be the single motivator driving you to that decision.
But that said, there was usually beer where I last worked, and in no way was it "a recipe for mixed signals, disagreements, misunderstandings."
It basically served as a way for devs to unwind at the end of the day (after 7pm) being social with each other, while they played video games or board games or watched movies on the conference room projector. Especially on Fridays.
It had nothing to do with a frat culture, I never saw drinking during the day, and I never heard of anyone getting drunk. It was no different from cheesecake in the fridge, or pizza in the fridge, or wine, or soda.
Nope, absolutely no chance at all that an office full of mature adults can enjoy a beer here or there throughout the week without someone getting sexually harassed and their life ruined.
I've worked in offices where there's been alcohol in the fridge at times, it was always for a Friday and only acceptable after 4pm (with a finish at around 6pm most people aren't going past one beer). It's not an essential, and I don't think a company should provide it as a perk, why not pay for your team to hit a bar once every now and again, get out of the office.
I'm with you that if you're going to have beer in the office, it should be good beer. A trend I've seen lately is scotch at work. It's more an end of the day relaxer than anything else.
I've seen both sides of the argument, and don't have a definitive opinion. If it works, keep doing it. If not, don't. If beer in the office costs you employees, don't have it. If beer in the office cuts your turnover, it's cheaper than hiring new people.
Watching Mad Men I always wondered whatever happened to strong beverages in the offices. Was it cultural? Have people decided that drinking during workday is faux pas? Was it some campaign against alcohol, similar to what happened to tobacco?
That seems to be the point here. Forget about beer in the office and focus on the things that really matter.
I'm a mature, responsible, smart, amazing, blahblahblah person much of the time. And then other times I'm not, and my failures are largely non-malicious -- just stupid. I'd guess the same is true of all of us.
So I ask again why you would want to have someone on staff that you would think twice about giving access to beer in the office?
It seems like it shouldn't matter if the beers are fancy stuff from Whole Foods (which is what happens here), or crappy stuff from a tap. But I guess it does.
Beer causing problems in the office is a personnel problem, not a "beer in the office problem".
That being said there are numerous occasions where we've just fought some fires and feel like unwinding for the last 2 hours of the day. So we all grab a beer and hang out in the kitchen to socialize and bond. It's been a great team builder. No one grabs their 3rd beer. After 1 or 2, everyone goes back to their desk.
And you know what? Every company I've spoken to works in a similar manner. So, I really don't think it's a problem, nor have I read of it being a problem in any work environment. It just so happens to be a common thing many people love, man or woman, and as responsible adults I don't find it inappropriate to advertise an in office keg.
I would not be surprised if there were a few lushes at the office who keep a bottle in their desks. Our culture is pretty laid back. But I imagine it would tighten up pretty quickly should an incident occur.
I wouldn't rule out serving alcohol at the office, but make sure everybody's really cool with each other first. If you had an instinctive reaction like "oh of course everyone's cool!", then they're not and you're about to find out what it's like to be Michael Scott.
1. Having ready beer (a keg) available in a work setting can cause issues. Ready alcohol impairs judgement and blurs boundaries.
2. Having Friday afternoon beers (or any other kind of gathering) can be beneficial to company bonding and communication. Frankly, I don't care if it is ice cream (as suggested in the comments), beer, weekly lunches, or kite flying--I want a regular low pressure social atmosphere for a) getting to know my team mates and b) exchanging work ideas in an informal cross department setting.
I think having types of events outlined in point 2 is beneficial to everyone in the company.
Disclaimer--I work in a small company that does Friday afternoon beers, but we are not a startup.
I've also worked at a place full of Russians where my boss would randomly show up at 11am and ask if I wanted to help drink cognac with him.
Baumholder, Germany, 1986. The daily march to the motor pool. Yes, I was in the Army. A little later than usual for reasons no longer remembered. Early summer, it might have been 70-F, considered a heat wave back then. A local work crew was pouring new concrete to replace some crumbling pad. They were on break drinking beer, at 1030. To those of you who do not habla, that's 10:30 AM.
They did seem to work a little slowly compared to the crews I have observed since. But I've never used a stopwatch, so I could be wrong.
I'm sure this is entirely tongue-in-cheek, but sunlight is extremely important; we don't get enough; all those people constantly attending "conferences" held indoors where they watch people talking on stage and slides flickering on a screen while never seeing the light of day make me sad.
Get out in the open. Look at the sky. Drop your iPod/iPhone/whatever. Think of nothing.
I think if somebody wants to have beer in their office, they should be free to do so. If they want to smoke in their office, the same (not sure if this is still legal, though) - I just would like to know in advance, because I wouldn't like to work there. But other people might.
Also, this seems to suggest beer leads to rape/harassment. So as an implication, rape/harassment in bars are fine, just not in the office? Doesn't make much sense imo.