Monica

You've seen the "consensus", but as Christine warned you, I'm the resident OCF contrarian. All my doctors (ENT, RO, MO, protodontist) said that beer or wine was fine but no hard spirits or liquor. The issue is now moot for me, since with the feeding tube, there is zero risk to my oral tissues when I have my daily two or three glasses of wine.
A cold beer in the summer, IMO, is just what the doctor ordered. Unfortunately beer now fizzes up too much when syringed and the resultant foam does not do travel well down a feeding tube. But a nice cold Tecate was my daily drink that cooled off all the radiation and chemo damage to my throat and pumped up the pain pills just a notch. Plus it gave me extra calories (since I didn't use a PEG).
As far as having a drink causing recurrence, lots of OCF posters have scrupulously avoided demon alcohol yet their cancer came back anyway. I can't imagine letting Cancer take even more enjoyment from my life than it has, and I make sure to put my wine in a nice glass to clink with my wife even though I use a syringe.
Keep the Faith
Charm