I'm not a parent so have no clue on how I'd act in reality but I know how I'd like to think.
Nothing until at least 14 or 15, and only weak shandies then. I don't believe the whole 'drinking early leads to moderation' stuff. It doesn't. It just makes alcohol more normalised. Adults think it's good that by the time someone hits 18, that they know x amount of vodka is their limits; I don't agree. Drinking and being sick and learning your limits are for adults, surely. Not children.
And it makes the whole alcohol and drinking thing bloody confusing for the child, too. My parents aren't great (whole other story) with really odd rules. I was drinking archers and lemonade (so nice flavours) and shandies at family parties from around 8. By the time I was 14 my mum was giving me and friends cider at home, and at 15 we split a bottle of vodka and I got terribly sick. But getting sick wasn't normal; the times I did I was told off the next morning for not knowing my limits. Buying drink and drinking in the park like most teens do, was unspeakably wrong, yet drinking 4 pints at home was fine, really confusing.
Also - and I appreciate this is just my experience and no one else's - I relied on it. I was bullied a lot when I went to secondary and I knew from previous experience (family parties) that alcohol made me feel nice. So I drank from the age of 11, to try and make things better, and basically used it as a coping strategy, even taking alcohol into school.
I might just have an addictive personality, but from the age of 15 I've known alcohol and me have a weird relationship. I controlled it ok until the 3rd year of uni when things got out of hand.
And maybe the early drinking had nothing to do with the rest of it, but it didn't help. There's no excuse for a child to be accustomed tothat. I'm not saying it's a case of two extremes, because there's not and there is a middle ground - perhaps a glss of wine at 15 or 16. When they're old enough and mature enough. But giving it at 8 is madness.
Let's not forget that alcohol is one of the most dangerous drugs about, yet one of the most widely used and abused. You'd never imagine coke pubs, where people could go and buy a few lines and the local teacher and mums would be indulging. You'd never dream of seeing a glass called 'valium o clock'. You'd be horrified if a friend told you that every night after she gets the kids to bed, she has heroin to wind down. And it is the same as alcohol. The only difference is alcohol is legal, which doesn't mean that it's safe.
It's everywhere, the whole drink culture - gin o clock, wine o clock, prosecco time, why mummy drinks etc - it's just normalising drinking. It's not just fun - its the whole thing of works hard, kids are a nightmare so get them to bed and have a glass to wind down. That isn't social drinking, that's using alcohol as a clutch and that is the road to dependency.
Like I say, just my experience and in no way are my views the only/best ones. But all I know is my personal experience and what I've been through, and I will be A LOT more controlling over it than my parents were.