For a long time, the essence of the spiritual culture of the Udmurt people was a ritual. The ritual life of the Udmurts combines the features of the traditional pagan faith and later adopted Orthodoxy. The performance of the rituals is very different even at the level of neighbouring villages. This article is devoted to an element that unites all Udmurts, despite the geographic distance and belonging to the vizhy (clans), which is beer (sur). This drink served not only as an invigorating companion during ceremonies, but also had a deep, magical function used for communication with another world. The purpose of this article is to draw attention to the significant role of beer as an ancient marker of Udmurt ethnicity based on the analysis of rituals and ceremonies of the calendar cycle.