The word "Alcohol" itself has Arabic origins, so it seems likely it would have been studied during the Islamic Golden Age. If the prohibition of alcohol did apply to its use in scientific experiments, were there any notable controversies that occurred during this period as a result?
As most of the scientists in that era were also religious characteristics, they werent so comfortable with the use of alcohol but however most of them used it in their researches and in fact some of them even suggested that it was healthy to drink.
Avicenna, in his book the canon of medicine, talks about the alcohol use and the ways of using it. (I found it in the p.263 in turkish translation) And there is still a big discussion in the islamic world if he used it as a drink. Most of them are not from reliable sources, like some religious leader or hand of the king accusing Avicenna with wine use. So, there was definitely controversions, but since Avicenna himself didnt define himself a muslim, i think it is not the best example.
But Scientists such as Ömer Khayyam or Abu zayd al balkhi were definitely using it as a medicine substance and also drink. Ömer Khayyam has a specific part in his "Epistle of Nowruz" about "the benefits of wine".
But generally speaking, in the islamic science world there was not much notable controversion in that time or now when it came to the use of alcohol as medicine or substance of an experience.
I hope it helped and sorry for the flaws in my english.
Follow on question: Were there any similar taboos among Renaissance Christians that may have impacted scientific work?
As I've alluded to before, while its possible that there was some controversy given that both are intoxicating substances, to some extent, the knowledge that wine, beer, spirits, and distilled alcohol all contain the same intoxicating chemical only dates to the 18th century.
So while the word "alcohol" is Arabic, the Arabs wouldn't have ascribed that name to intoxicating beverages or seen them as the same. In fact, the word "alcohol" only means the "essence" of something. Eventually, the term was applied in the West to the distilled beverages that resulted from distilling wine, and thus became synonymous with the "essence of wine", and only was recognized as the common chemical to all of these substances much later.
That being said, all can cause something that can be identified as intoxication, so its possible there was some prohibitions on them, but the Muslims weren't knowingly drinking something with the same essence as a forbidden substance.
I actually took a course on this and my professor is actually a big researcher in the field of the societal history of alcohol, so if anyone would like any further info I'd be happy to answer!