Is Beer Bad for Health?

I have heard that beer has negative effects on health. Yet every year beer is celebrated in Munich and at this occasion, Germans and tourists are drinking abound, so I wondered if it's so bad.

Short answer

According to a recent study in Scotland, four pints of beer per week significantly increases the risk of hospitalization in the lifetime. Another study establishes a strong link between beer consumption and prostate cancer.
This clarifies what is known about the negative effects of alcohol in general, including risk of cancer.

Long answer

In Scotland they do not drink only whisky (which is also not beneficial to health). They also appreciates a great bock of beer.
A study was conducted over a period of 35 years, and about 6000 people on Scots whose age is between 34 and 64.
Four beer pints, eight cups of liquor or eight small glasses of wine have an equivalent effect. Both the risk of being hospitalized, the length of hospital staying are increased for the drinkers.
But those who drink from time to time are not affected.
Reference: Professor Ian Gilmore of the Royal College of Physicians.

Another recent study, based on a sample of 3927 people in Canada and published in Cancer Epidemiology, found that if you drink at least one glass of beer a day over a long period, the risk of prostate cancer increases by 40%. Other alcohols have no effect on this type of cancer, but induce others.

There are also virtues in beer that contains vitamins B, but it must be said that one can easily find them elsewhere in food, especially green vegetables, or "light" additives as the yeast...
It was also suggested a beneficial effect of beer against osteoporosis.

Too much beer is harmful because of its alcohol content, and the calorie intake is not recommended for weight loss.