Beer keeping one very animated (5)
I believe the answer is:
alive
'animated' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'beer keeping one very' is the wordplay.
'beer' becomes 'ale' (type of beer).
'keeping' indicates putting letters inside.
'one' becomes 'I' (Roman numeral).
'very' becomes 'v' (abbreviation).
'i'+'v'='iv'
'ale' going around 'iv' is 'ALIVE'.
(Other definitions for alive that I've seen before include "Quick - breathing" , "Animate, breathing" , "Still with us" , "Existing - vigorous" , "Go or walk briskly" .)