I drink mainly because I need to lower my standards for having a good time. When I go out (almost every saturday) I know I'll end up in some s**thole listening to music ranging from tolerable to braindead, so it's best to start drinking early to get the best of it.
My personal favorite is almost any beer and some hard liquor like home-made brandy (it's not quite what you'd call brandy in the states, rakija for Kruno, yes, yes, another Croatian guitarist with booze affiliation, that type seems to be the only one that thrives under this climate). Occasionally I enjoy some good wine, but that's more barbecue/picnic related.
When I'm in the mood , either 1l bottle of brandy, 4l of beer, or something in between makes me extremely sociable, but I've never had any alcohol related problems. No fights, no jail, no girls I wouldn't have touched sober, no health issues whatsoever, not even problems with parents. I've learned my limit and how not to cross it (though I sometimes do for variety and brain-distortion).