In Back To The Future III, a bartender taunts Marty for trying to order water, telling him that he'd be better off sticking his head in a trough and that "'round here, men drink whiskey." Was it uncommon for people to just drink water back then? How did people stay hydrated?
But as a die hard fan of the movie I can tell you the bartender is referring to what people order in the saloon not what people generally drink in 1885 Hill Valley.