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Contents:

Dionysos [1] on wine:

"Three kraters [2] only do I mix [3] for the temperate - one to health, which they empty first, the second to love and pleasure, the third to sleep. When this is drunk up the wise guests go home. The fourth bowl is ours no longer, but belongs to hubris; the fifth to yelling, the sixth to prancing about, the seventh to black eyes. The eighth brings the police, the ninth vomiting, the tenth insanity and hurling the furniture."

[1] Well, really the poet Eubulus
[2] Your share would be about a litre
[3] Mixed about 50/50 with water

From the Kanteletar (online here) (English translation by Keith Bosley available from Oxford University Press)
This translation partly by me, help from Bosley's for the hard bits.

Oluen synty

Tieän mä oluen synnyn:
humalast' oluen synty.
Humala, Remusen poika,
piennä maahan pistettihin,
kyinä maahan kynnettihin,
viholaisna viskottihin,
Osman pellon penkerehen,
vierehen Kalevan kaivon.
Siitä taisi taimi nousta,
yletä vihanta virpi,
Osman pellon penkerellä,
vierellä Kalevan kaivon;
nousi puuhun pienoisehen,
kohti latvoa kohosi.

Niin huhui humala puusta,
ohra pellon penkereltä,
vesi kaivosta Kalevan:
"Milloin yhtehen yhymmä,
konsa toinen toisehemme:
joulunako, kekrinäkö,
vaiko vasta pääsiäisnä,
vaiko jo tänäki päänä?
Jospa jo tänäki päänä."

Tuosta kohta koolle saivat
ja tulivat toisihinsa.
Västäräkki vettä kantoi
kerkeän kesäisen päivän,
punalintu puita pilkkoi,
tiainen pani olutta.
Hyvin se tiainen tiesi,
osasi oluen panna,
vaan ei tiennynnä nimetä.

Kissa virkkoi kiukoalta,
kasi lausui lauan päästä:
"Olut on oikia nimensä,
hyvä juoma hurskahille,
paha paljo juonehille;
hurskahat ilottelevi,
hullut tappeloittelevi."

Tiainenpa, pieni lintu,
varpunen vähävarainen
kutsui paljo vierahia
olu'ille juotaville;
hyvä oli juoma hurskahille,
paha paljo juonehille:
pani se hullut huiskamahan,
mielipuolet meiskamahan.

Tiainenpa, pieni lintu,
varpunen vähävarainen
ei voinut kotona olla,
piti metsähän paeta.

The Birth of Beer

I know of beer's birth:
from hop beer was born.
Hop, Merry-making's child,
put in the ground when small,
like a viper, ploughed in,
like a nettle, thrown in,
on the banks of Osma's field,
down by Kaleva's well.
From it a sprout could rise,
Upwards, a green shoot,
on the bank of Osma's field,
down by Kaleva's well;
rose up on a tiny tree
towards the top it climbed.

So hop called out from the tree,
barley from the field-bank,
water from Kaleva's well:
"When shall we get together,
when will we meet each other:
at Christmas, at All Saints,
or not till Easter,
or this very day?
If only this very day"

From there at once they came together
and came to one another.
A wagtail carried water
all the fleeting summer's day,
a red bird chopped wood,
a tomtit brewed beer.
Well the tomtit knew it,
good at brewing beer,
but did not know the name.

A cat spoke up from the hearth
a puss declared from the bench:
"Beer is the right name,
a good drink for the well-bred,
bad for those who've drunk a lot;
it makes the well-bred merry,
but makes the mad fight."

The tomtit, the little bird,
and the sparrow of small means
invited many strangers
to a drinking of the beer;
good was the drink for the well-bred,
bad for those who drank a lot:
it put the mad in a whirl,
the half-wits in a frenzy.

The tomtit, the little bird,
and the sparrow of small means
could not stay at home,
had to flee to the forest.

From the Bible:

Proverbs 31:4-7 (KJ)
It is not for kings, O Lemuel,
it is not for kings to drink wine;
nor for princes strong drink;
Lest they drink, and forget the law,
and pervert the judgement
of any of the afflicted.
Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish,
and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts.
Let him drink, and forget his poverty,
and remember his misery no more.

Deuteronomy 14:22-26 (KJ)
Thou shalt truly tithe all the increase of thy seed, that the
field bringeth forth year by year.
And thou shalt eat before the Lord thy God, in the place which
he shall choose to place his name there, the tithe of thy
corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil, and the firstlings of thy
herds and of thy flocks; that thou mayest learn to fear the
Lord thy God always.
And if the way be too long for thee, so that thou art not able
to carry it; or if the place be too far from thee, which the
Lord thy God shall choose to set his name there, when the Lord
thy God hath blessed thee:
Then shalt thou turn it into money, and bind up the money in
thine hand, and shalt go unto the place which the Lord thy God
shall choose:
And thou shalt bestow that money for whatsoever thy soul
lusteth after, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for
strong drink, or for whatsoever thy soul desireth: and thou
shalt eat there before the Lord thy God, and thou shalt
rejoice, thou, and thine household,

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