Drinkers in Istanbul beer gardens circa 1900s.

Photos via Malte Fuhrmann's "Port Cities of the Eastern Mediterranean", full of details about introduction of modern beer to the Ottoman Empire in 19th century (and much else)

Locals generally saw beer as cosmopolitan, foreign, even effeminate - an alien European import. Beer was contrasted with raki, which was characterised as much more culturally deep-rooted and authentic.

Beer gardens sprouted up in major metropolitan areas and became popular among men and women, as well as for family outings. Distinct from male-dominated (at the time) meyhane culture centred around raki.

Despite criticism, beer became popular across classes and religious groups. Abdulhamid II - caricatured today as a stern Islamically conservative sultan - even appointed Bomonti, one of the first breweries in Istanbul, as official purveyors to the Ottoman court.

Brief article on some of this here: https://seeingthewoods.org/2020/02/05/the-ottoman-imperial-brewery-and-its-legacy-multiculturalism-hedonism-conservationism/