I find the image of drunken dwarven feasts evocative.
I never interpreted dwarves slowing down without booze as them getting drunk (like the robots in Futurama). I figured they were getting awful withdrawals and were being moody. Was Toady ever explicit about what was going on here?
It doesn't go away so it's not withdrawal. That would end as the body adjusts to a new normal.
Withdrawals were just the first thing to come to mind. I figured they were very abstracted and unrealistic (would expect vomiting at least and even death given the length of the addiction). Really it was just a game mechanic to force the player to supply booze (not original in city building games). My main point was that dwarves getting drunk when dry was, unless I am mistaken, a fan explanation (not that I don't enjoy the fan culture around DF).
A more fitting explanation might be that dwarves expect booze on tap and become glum when it's not. Perhaps it's more like lubricant in the machine and without it they find it hard to get on (like real addicts can even after they quit). Both would also help explain the mentally scarred humans/elves/goblins needing booze in the same way. Doing a bit of searching it seems like Toady always planned to have dwarves get drunk from drinking (with drinking songs perhaps).
Right now the alcoholic dwarves work slower, become depressed, then either beat up their friends or jump in the river.
Oh, sorry. The effects above were for a dwarf that gets no booze. Although I imagine a drunken dwarf might act much the same way... except the dwarf might not be depressed... I need a random drinking song generator...
I wonder if these quoted posts are what gave the impression that dwarves get drunk without booze. I read them to mean there are similarities between the two states in that they get slower, more violent, and careless/self destructive.