beer and longevity

Below are the top 10 beer consuming nations and their respective life expectancies.  

1. Czech Republic – 187.2 liters per capita, 79.8 years

2. Austria – 107.8 liters per capita, 81.9 years

3. Germany – 106.1 liters per capita, 81.4 years

4. Romania – 98.1 liters per capita, 75.9 years

5. Poland – 97.7 liters per capita, 78.5 years

6. Ireland – 96.9 liters per capita, 82.4 years

7. Lithuania – 94.2 liters per capita, 76 years

8. Croatia – 93.3 liters per capita, 78.6 years

9. Spain – 88.5 liters per capita, 83.9 years

10. Namibia – 85.7 liters per capita, 67.4 years 

And here is the US for comparison:

69.3 liters per capita, 79.4 years

It's interesting that there are some countries with higher annual per capita beer consumption and life expectancy than the US. Consumption in the Czech Republic amounts to about a pint per person per day. I suspect a scatter plot with more countries would show a positive correlation between beer consumption and longevity. The simplest explanation for that is countries that spend more on beer can also afford more on healthcare.