What are the benefits of alcohol again?

Can facilitate deeper interpersonal connection and sometimes intrapersonal insight.

There do seem to be a lot of downsides though.

Alcohol makes a good solvent so it extracts flavours in things that don't tend to go in a liquid. That's for liquors at least, for things like beer and wine, they're tasty drinks that also happen to have alcohol in them through the process of creating them.

Also it's fun having a drink or two!

It’s fun!

Tastes good (to many)

In my opinion, aside from in vino, veritas, there aren’t any.

The most common answer you’ll get is ‘social lubricant’, which I’ll admit is somewhat true in groups of strangers or acquaintances.

However, most people can use alcohol responsibly and enjoy themselves without harming others (or themselves). Most of the things we do or put in our bodies have risks associated.