user43: Beer just doesn't get that many questions, as oft-noted on meta.  On Beer SOS - The state of the site I suggested that our scope is too narrow.  That answer has 7 upvotes (and no downvotes), which is pretty good for our low-participation meta.
There is some support already for cider, mead, and rice wine being on-topic here, though it's not reflected in the site name or official scope.  What about wine?  Should Beer expand to be a general alcohol site?  It's come up before, but never resolved.
There have been at least two Wine proposals on Area 51.  The first was closed for inactivity; the second is new.  I asked there if Beer and Wine should combine forces; obviously that would only work if we think so too.
Should Beer's scope broaden to cover all alcoholic drinks?

user37: I don't know what the official SE policy is on changing site scope after launch...I'll dig around on MSE and see if I can find any discussions on the topic.  
That said, I'd be in favor.  As you know, there is currently a proposal for a Wine site on Area 51, but other alcoholic site proposals, including one for whisk(e)y and one for alcoholic beverages in general have already languished and died there.  
Since, as you mentioned, we've already agreed on cider, mead and rice wine being on-topic, and since we have very little traffic with the topics we have, and alcohol-based proposals seem to struggle on Area51, I think it would be beneficial all the way around.  

user66: As bluefeet said, there's nothing inherently wrong with the idea of expanding a site's scope. I doubt that expanding the scope of this particular site to other alcohols or alcohol in general is the right path, though.
In my experience, there's little correlation between knowledge about beer and knowledge about wines, spirits or other alcoholic drinks. And often, people who are really into beer may know nothing at all about, say, wine or vodka. Serious interest in beer does seem to lead to dabbling in homebrewing, though.
Now, granted, my experience may not be representative of the world at large, and I'm willing to be convinced otherwise, but I haven't seen much evidence yet.
The point of all this is that expanding into new territory doesn't really help overall site health if the site's existing users wouldn't participate in there and any new users wouldn't contribute to the "old territory." It'd basically be like operating two small, independent sites that just happen to share a URL for some reason that nobody understands.
So I suppose you could take everything I've said so far as a very long concurrence/upvote for bluefeet's answer. In my opinion, the long-term path forward for this site has to involve (as usual) more good questions being asked. In the SE network, we typically look for "practical, answerable questions based on actual problems that [users actually] face"; we probably need a slightly different guideline here. I don't have an idea for that different guideline off the top of my head, and it's probably better off discussed in a separate post anyways; but as one of the world's oldest and most popular drinks, beer certainly ought to be able to sustain a decent Q&A site.

user971: Update: 04-05-2016:
The community team discussed it and we're going to expand the scope of the site. See the proposal here.

First, let me say I'm not against the idea of expanding scope.  But I wonder if doing so would drive more traffic to it and more community participation.
As I mentioned in my Beer SOS, participation on the site is lacking and is a bit stagnant, while the community does a good job keeping the site clean, we're averaging 0.1 questions per day...Eek. Expanding the scope to include Wine and Cider might drive an increase in traffic but will the community be able to sustain it?
It's been discussed up before, but maybe it's time to revisit combining Beer and Homebrewing. I'm open to thoughts, or other ideas.

43: <p>Beer just doesn't get that many questions, as oft-noted on meta.  On <a href="https://alcohol.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/104/beer-sos-the-state-of-the-site">Beer SOS - The state of the site</a> I <a href="https://alcohol.meta.stackexchange.com/a/107/43">suggested</a> that our scope is too narrow.  That answer has 7 upvotes (and no downvotes), which is pretty good for our low-participation meta.</p>

<p>There is <a href="https://alcohol.meta.stackexchange.com/a/114/43">some support already</a> for cider, mead, and rice wine being on-topic here, though it's not reflected in the site name or official scope.  What about wine?  Should Beer expand to be a general alcohol site?  It's come up before, but never resolved.</p>

<p>There have been at least two Wine proposals on Area 51.  The first was closed for inactivity; the second is new.  I <a href="https://area51.meta.stackexchange.com/q/23236/28610">asked there</a> if Beer and Wine should combine forces; obviously that would only work if we think so too.</p>

<p>Should Beer's scope broaden to cover all alcoholic drinks?</p>
 37: <p>I don't know what the official SE policy is on changing site scope after launch...I'll dig around on MSE and see if I can find any discussions on the topic.  </p>

<p>That said, I'd be in favor.  As you know, there is currently a proposal for a Wine site on Area 51, but other alcoholic site proposals, including one for whisk(e)y and one for alcoholic beverages in general have already languished and died there.  </p>

<p>Since, as you mentioned, we've already agreed on cider, mead and rice wine being on-topic, and since we have very little traffic with the topics we have, and alcohol-based proposals seem to struggle on Area51, I think it would be beneficial all the way around.  </p>
 66: <p>As bluefeet said, there's nothing inherently wrong with the idea of expanding a site's scope. I doubt that expanding the scope of this <em>particular</em> site to other alcohols or alcohol in general is the right path, though.</p>

<p>In my experience, there's little correlation between knowledge about beer and knowledge about wines, spirits or other alcoholic drinks. And often, people who are really into beer may know nothing at all about, say, wine or vodka. Serious interest in beer <em>does</em> seem to lead to dabbling in homebrewing, though.</p>

<p>Now, granted, my experience may not be representative of the world at large, and I'm willing to be convinced otherwise, but I haven't seen much evidence yet.</p>

<p>The point of all this is that expanding into new territory doesn't really help overall site health if the site's existing users wouldn't participate in there and any new users wouldn't contribute to the "old territory." It'd basically be like operating two small, independent sites that just happen to share a URL for some reason that nobody understands.</p>

<p>So I suppose you could take everything I've said so far as a very long concurrence/upvote for bluefeet's answer. In my opinion, the long-term path forward for this site has to involve (as usual) more good questions being asked. In the SE network, we typically look for "practical, answerable questions based on actual problems that [users actually] face"; we probably need a slightly different guideline here. I don't have an idea for that different guideline off the top of my head, and it's probably better off discussed in a separate post anyways; but as one of the world's oldest and most popular drinks, beer certainly ought to be able to sustain a decent Q&amp;A site.</p>
 971: <h3>Update: 04-05-2016:</h3>
<p>The community team discussed it and we're going to expand the scope of the site. <a href="https://alcohol.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/123/shaken-not-stirred-lets-expand-the-site">See the proposal here</a>.</p>
<hr />
<p>First, let me say I'm not against the idea of expanding scope.  But I wonder if doing so would drive more traffic to it and more community participation.</p>
<p>As I mentioned <a href="https://alcohol.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/104/beer-sos-the-state-of-the-site">in my Beer SOS</a>, participation on the site is lacking and is a bit stagnant, while the community does a good job keeping the site clean, we're <a href="http://area51.stackexchange.com/proposals/48905/beer">averaging 0.1 questions per day</a>...Eek. Expanding the scope to include <a href="http://area51.stackexchange.com/proposals/95694/wine">Wine</a> and <a href="http://area51.stackexchange.com/proposals/97236/cider">Cider</a> <strong>might</strong> drive an increase in traffic but will the community be able to sustain it?</p>
<p>It's been discussed up before, but maybe <a href="https://alcohol.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/47/why-not-expand-homebrew-stackexchange-to-include-beer-stackexchange">it's time to revisit combining Beer and Homebrewing</a>. I'm open to thoughts, or other ideas.</p>
