Is alcohol haram or not recommended?

I understand that the common concept is that alcohol is is acceptable in islam, however I am struggling to see how we consider it 'haram' considering the phrases used in the quran. > ... Indeed, intoxicants, gambling, [sacrificing on] stone alters [to other than Allah ], and divining arrows are from the work of Satan, so avoid it to be successful. — *Quran 5:90* When we compare this to other parts of the quran such as the forbidding of eating pork we can see a difference in language - **stronger more definitive language** like 'forbidden' is used for example compared to less definitive language like 'avoid'. > Prohibited/Forbidden to you are dead animals, blood, the flesh of swine, and that which has been dedicated to other than Allah - *Quran 5:3* I realise that these are just two passages but I think most passages from the quran that I have found reflect this point. In summary: * (1) in the quran why are there no references to alcohol being forbidden or *haram* and * (2) why should we consider it *haram* or not consider it *haram* * (3) Should we consider that drinking or taking other intoxicants is not recommended and should be avoided but is not *forbidden* like pork or non-halal meat. Please try to explain this in the context of quran rather than hadith (because different denominations of islam consider different hadith and the quran is the main text of islam).