'Cheers' Stars Reveal They Were Swilling 'Warm, Flat, Salty, Non-Alcoholic Beer' for 11 Seasons

'Cheers' aired on NBC from 1982 to 1993

The Cheers bar has become an American sitcom staple — but you may not want what they’re serving on tap.

During this weekend's Cheers reunion panel at ATX TV Festival in Austin, the actors revealed what was really in those pub pint glasses during filming.

“It was Near Beer, and it was non-alcoholic beer, and they wanted it to be draft,” recalled George Wendt, who played Norm Peterson. “So it was warm and flat, and the prop man put salt into it. So it was warm, flat, salty, non-alcoholic beer."

Related: 'Cheers' Cast Recalls Gifting Kirstie Alley a Shotgun When She Joined the Sitcom

During the panel, the cast also revealed they scrambled to find a last minute welcome gift for Kirstie Alley when she joined the show. The warm welcome was left to Wendt, 74, and John Ratzenberger — and it’s fair to say that job didn’t fall in their hands again.

The costars bought Alley a shotgun as a welcome to the set. “Going past all these places and we go past Big 5 Sporting Goods, and John goes, 'You wanna buy her a shotgun?'" said Wendt, prompting laughter from the audience.

“And, like you, I laughed for about five minutes,” he continued. “And then immediately pulled into the parking lot, and we bought her a freakin’ shotgun.”

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Cheers aired for 11 seasons from 1982 to 1993, and it's spinoff Frasier — centering on the popular Cheers character Dr. Frasier Crane (Kelsey Grammer) — was also a hit, running from 1993 until ended in 2004. Cheers has not been rebooted yet, though a Frasier return is on the way. 

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