Editing Nero Wolfe (section)

===Beer===
[[Image:Wolfe-NWM-Opener.jpg|right|thumb|Gold plated bottle opener from the A&E TV series ''[[Nero Wolfe (2001 TV series)|Nero Wolfe]]'']]
{{blockquote|[Fritz] served Wolfe's beer first, the bottle unopened because that's a rule, and Wolfe got his opener from the drawer, a gold one Marko Vukcic had given him that didn't work very well.|Archie Goodwin in ''[[The Father Hunt]]'' (1968), chapter 5}}

Nero Wolfe's first recorded words are, "Where's the beer?"

The first novel, ''[[Fer-de-Lance (novel)|Fer-de-Lance]]'', introduces Wolfe as he prepares to change his habits. With [[Prohibition in the United States|Prohibition]] at an end, he can stop buying kegs of [[rum-running|bootleg]] beer and purchase it legally in bottles. Fritz brings in samples of 49 different brands for him to evaluate, from which he ultimately selects Remmers as his favorite. Several times during the story, Wolfe announces his intention to reduce his beer intake from six quarts a day to five. "I grinned at that, for I didn't believe it", Archie Goodwin writes.<ref>''[[Fer-de-Lance (novel)|Fer-de-Lance]]'', chapter 1.</ref>

Like most other things in Wolfe's life, his beer drinking is bound by ritual. Seated at his desk, Wolfe presses the button twice to ring for beer, and Fritz delivers the bottles unopened; Wolfe uncaps the bottles himself, using an 18-karat gold bottle opener given to him by a satisfied client.<ref>''[[Prisoner's Base]]'', chapter 2; ''[[In the Best Families]]'', chapter 2. Marko Vukcic engaged Wolfe in "[[Omit Flowers]]".</ref> He never drinks directly from the bottle, but instead pours the beer into a glass and lets the foam settle to an appropriate level before drinking. He keeps the gold opener in the center drawer of his desk, where he also keeps the bottlecaps as a means of tracking his daily/weekly consumption.

In ''[[Plot It Yourself]]'' (chapter 13), Wolfe makes an unprecedented vow after Archie tells him the killer they seek has killed again. Wolfe hits the desk with his fist, bellows in a language Archie does not understand, then coldly orders Fritz away when he enters with the beer: "Take it back. I shall drink no beer until I get my fingers around that creature's throat. And I shall eat no meat."