Spouse off booze taking single small beer outside, then another (4,6,4)

'beer outside then another' is the definition.
I know nothing about this answer so I cannot tell whether it can be defined by this definition.

'spouse off booze taking single small' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'spouse' could be 'betterhalf' (I've seen this in another clue) and 'betterhalf' is found in the answer.
'taking' could be 'on' (eg one taking drugs is 'on' drugs) and 'on' is present in the answer.
'small' could be 's' (abbreviation - e.g. clothes size) and 's' is found within the answer.
A single letter 'e' remains which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?