The beer had been far too inadequate to make them drunk; it made them only moody and reflective

One of the infrequent rations of beer was given out the same night, and the men finished their three cans quickly, and sat around without saying very much,. The beer had been far too inadequate to make them drunk; it made them only moody and reflective, it opened the gate to all their memories, and left them sad, hungering for things they could not name.

N. Mailer, The naked and the dead (1948), 258