What is the Hindu stance on alcohol/wine?

Question

are there references in the Upanishads or Gita? (quotes of verse/book will be most appreciated)

Answer 1

There is no single opinion within Hinduism about drinking alcohol, however excessive drinking or alcoholism is universally condemned as harmful to the individual, to the family, and to society.

Our smritis or religious law books classify the drinking of wine as one of the Five Great Sins. (Distilled liquor was unknown to ancient Hindus.) It is said that both Brahma, the Creator, and Krishna, an Incarnation of Vishnu, cursed wine because of its harmful effects, and anyone drinking it will be affected by the curse.

However, in the Hindu tantric tradition wine is drunk sacramentally after ritually removing the curses on it. In this tradition a slight degree of intoxication and the joy that one can experience from that is used as an aid to the remembrance of the joy of communing with God. Wine may also be combined with bhang (cannabis) for the same purpose.

Feminine aspects of God are sometimes depicted as enjoying the intoxication of wine, as does the Goddess Durga in the Devi-mahatmyam (Hymn on the Greatness of the Goddess). Devotees of the Goddess may offer Her wine and then drink it as a consecrated offering or Prasad.

But even the tantric tradition condemns drunkenness in the absence of the remembrance of God. A simple way to understand how Hindus may view any given behavior is to determine if the behavior takes one toward or away from God. Anything that takes one toward God is good, and anything that takes one away from God is bad. The very same action may be a sin for one person but a virtue for another, depending on the mental state and intentions of the person at the time of performing the act.

One can never really get away from God, however, who is everywhere always; it is only our ignorance of this fact that causes us to suffer. As Krishna says in the Bhagavad-Gita: "The Infinite doesn't care about anyone's sin or good deeds. Knowledge [of God] is covered by ignorance, and by that people are deluded."

Answer 2

just drink it already.