Do rats prefer water, near beer, or beer with ethanol?

Tested the preference of 11 female albino rats for water or beer containing varying amounts of ethanol for 12 hrs daily across 5 phases, each lasting 15 days. During Phase 1, Ss had free access to beer containing 3.2% ethanol, beer without ethanol (near beer), and water. During Phases 2, 3, and 4, they had free access to 3.2% beer and water, 4.5% beer and water, and 10% beer and water, respectively. During Phase 5, they again had 3.2% beer, near beer, and water. Between phases, there were 5 days of baseline water consumption. During Phases 1 and 5, 3.2% beer was preferred over water, and near beer was overwhelmingly preferred over the other 2 fluids. The volume of near beer consumed during Phases 1 and 5, respectively, was 5.2 and 3.3 times the volume of water consumed at baseline. During Phase 2, 3.2% beer was preferred to water, and during Phase 3, 4.5% beer was preferred to water. Only when the ethanol concentration reached 10% (during Phase 4) was water preferred to beer. (13 ref)