When I was doing my LLM, my Muslim classmates told me that arguably only wine made from grapes is prohibited. All of them thought beer was okay - in fact, the conversation came about after a non-Muslim had referred to beer as forbidden and all the Muslim students collapsed laughing. They varied on whisky, with some saying that although it isn't made from grapes, it should count as forbidden because it's stronger than wine, and others wanting to take the prohibition literally. I think they said the stricter of those two views was more widespread.