The bespectacled, bow-tied George Will is probably the last person you'd expect to write such a staunch and refreshing defense of, well, beer:

Perhaps like many sensible citizens, you read Investor's Business Daily for its sturdy common sense in defending free markets and other rational arrangements. If so, you too may have been startled recently by an astonishing statement on that newspaper's front page. It was in a report on the intention of the world's second-largest brewer, Belgium's InBev, to buy control of the third-largest, Anheuser-Busch, for $46.3 billion. The story asserted: "The (alcoholic beverage) industry's continued growth, however slight, has been a surprise to those who figured that when the economy turned south, consumers would cut back on nonessential items like beer. ... "

"Non what"? Do not try to peddle that proposition in the bleachers or at the beaches in July. It is closer to the truth to say: No beer, no civilization.

Beer comes in many varieties and qualities, of course. And though I would guess from his socio-economic profile Mr. Will is more likely to be sitting at home sipping from a bottle of Heine than swilling from a can of Mil's Best, today's column on the essentialness of beer is another example of why he's one of America's most widely read and respected columnists.