Reason to give people only some beer (9)
I believe the answer is:
rationale
'reason' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'people only some beer' is the wordplay.
'people only' becomes 'ration' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should believe this answer much more).
'some beer' becomes 'ale' (type of beer).
'ration'+'ale'='RATIONALE'
'to give' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for rationale that I've seen before include "Good reason" , "grounds?" , "Logic, reasoning" , "Reasoned exposition" , "The logical basis of some thing or action" .)