He'd have been better off with a glass of milk instead of the beers. Water, alcohol, and most other drinks just spread the hot stuff around. Milk (or better, yogurt) has a cooling effect. It coats the surface and absorbs the heat.
The first time my wife and I ate at an Indian restaurant, I ordered curried chicken. The waitress told me it was hot and brought a bowl of sauce to go with it. She described it as a "cooling sauce" and then admitted it was just yogurt. I like hot stuff to a certain extent, but if I break a good sweat, then it's too hot. The curried chicken was just hot enough that I appreciated the yogurt.
With super-hot wings, though, just order extra blue cheese and dip a lot.