Craig Coonrad wrote:

> My argument was that alcohol was not part of the paleo diet.
> 
> If the question is, did paleo folks ingest alcohol incidentally as a 
> result of eating rotten fruit, sure I would agree with that.

Okay, and if paleo folks ingested alcohol incidentally as a result of eating
rotten fruit then alcohol was in fact a part of the paleo diet.

No doubt wine came first, before beer which required agriculture. 

Probably at some time during the Paleolithic someone noticed pleasant
intoxicating feelings after eating a big meal of fermenting fruit picked up
off the forest floor. In the late Paleolithic people then began deliberately
mixing such fruit in bowls with water to make primitive wine, for use in
religious rituals. Wine then continued to have religious significance to
humans even as late as the New Testament.

-gts