I was reading the Wikipedia entry on gout, and noticed that both beer and soda pop raised risk of gout significantly. Although I've never been too keen on soda pop, I've always loved beer, so here I am...

The problem, I think, with carbonated drinks is that they contain a significant amount of carbonic acid. Evidently, interaction between bicarbonate and carbonic acid play a very important role in body ph. So the problem with beer is not that it has yeast, or even purines, but the fact that it is injected with CO2 to form an acidic solution. Interestingly, soda pop, which is more acidic than beer, increases the risk of gout as much as beer, even without the alcohol.

Here's an article on it:

Two fizzy drinks a day can give you gout