Was beer an utterly festive drink? (7)
I believe the answer is:
wassail
'festive drink?' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'was beer an' is the wordplay.
'beer an' becomes 'sail' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'was'+'sail'='WASSAIL'
'utterly' is the link.
This may not be right. It may be part of another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for wassail that I've seen before include "Go carol-singing" , "Lively festivities; spiced ale" , "One that may come in to bowl" , "celebration" , "Mulled wine" .)