"Beer is proof God loves us..." --Franklin?

“Beer is proof God loves us and wants us to be happy” is a quote often attributed to Benjamin Franklin. Is there any evidence this quote is authentic, or is it apocryphal?

The Myth of Ben Franklin and His Love of Beer

Thanks XRV, it didn’t ring true, but it is so pervasive on the intarweb, I couldn’t find anything to refute it.

Cheers.

Maybe a (huge) misremembering of Housman’s “Malt does more than Milton can; to justify God’s ways to man?”

For the record, Franklin did write something entitled, “Fart Proudly”

Actually, he didn’t. At any rate, Franklin didn’t title his piece that – it’s only one of a list of pieces of advise. The editors of the volume you link to gave the ook that title for its humor and shock value.