The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 11 letter word HOME-BREWED
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
H
O
M
E
-
B
R
E
W
E
D
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "As beer may be" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case as beer may be = home-brewed.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.