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Non Alcoholic Beer

Discussion in 'Alcohol' started by blur92, Jan 11, 2015.

  1. blur92

    blur92 Senior Contributor

    One difficulty my boyfriend and I had trouble with was going to bars. They played a major role in his social life. Plus, he loves to play pool and played it there. We would try to limit ourselves to only a couple, but that worked 10% of the time. Two beers usually turned into 5+ along with shots. In December we decided to quit drinking entirely. Because he still wanted to go to the bars, though, he began only drinking Coors NA and O'Doul's. Luckily, it's been a success. Both of us haven't drank now. I think the social life bars have to offer makes it difficult for some people to quit, but this offered an alternative way to continue going but still be sober.

    Has anyone else had a similar experience?
    rabst likes this.
  2. Winterybella

    Winterybella Community Champion

    I haven't had the experience. I didn't even know such a beer existed. I am glad you are making progress and that you have found a way to be out at the bar and still stay sober. I hope to read of others who have had similar success. In the meantime I will research this beer and see if it's available in my country.
  3. blur92

    blur92 Senior Contributor

    Thanks! I think one struggle many people face when trying to quit is giving up their social life. The problem is sticking with only a couple beers throughout the night which often turns into having more. So, being able to quit 100% rids us of that possibility.

    The only non alcoholic beers I am aware of are Coors NA and O'Doul's. My boyfriend prefers the Coors NA. I hope you come across more. Best of luck to you! :)
  4. Winterybella

    Winterybella Community Champion

    I doubt I am going to find any around here. If I do I would certainly like to replace some if not all of the alcoholic ones in my bar. My husband might not like that though :). He loves to have a beer on hand for the boys. Instead of going to the bar, he has brought the bar home.
  5. AFKATafcar

    AFKATafcar Community Champion

    I'm glad to hear that you've been able to cut back on your drinking. Sometimes, it's the social aspect of drinking that drives people, rather than the effects produced by the alcohol itself. That's when non-alcoholic beers can play an important role in limiting your consumption of actual alcohol, or it could even help you cease drinking completely, and that's never a bad thing.
  6. Tournique

    Tournique Senior Contributor

    Non alcoholic beer feels weird but can be a good substituent to normal beer if you are driving or looking to cut back an addiction. Take care !
  7. bluedressed

    bluedressed Community Champion

    My boyfriend -- who usually drank all the time, I'm pretty sure he had more alcohol than water in his body -- stopped drinking. That is to say, instead of drinking beer from morning to night with the extra mixed drinks etc, he switched entirely to drinking non-alcoholic beer from morning to night.

    That said, he says it's easy because where we live at (Germany), people love beer so much that even the non-alcoholic beer is very tasty and high quality. In Canada, he tasted non-alcoholic beer and did not like the taste at all (and let's face it, Canadian beer is generally better than US beer, so I can imagine your plight!).

    You could try ordering beer "cocktails" (mix of beer and 7up, for example) with normal or nonalcoholic beer? Maybe that would save the taste.
  8. Winterybella

    Winterybella Community Champion

    Thanks AFKAT, but I really don't have a lot to cut back on. I have only had the odd beer to be sure I can handle one without losing my head. My husband is the one who will consume the alcohol. He and his friends, and he's not much of a beer person. He likes to have them around so that his guest will have something to keep them occupied I suppose. He'd much rather have a daily gin or something like that to "ease the pressure" according to him.

    About the non alcoholic beer. It does look as though we have any here in my island. It doesn't surprise me. We someone think we have one of the best beers in the world so we probably won't want anything to compete with that.
  9. blur92

    blur92 Senior Contributor

    Thank you AFKAT. It definitely was the social aspect of drinking that made it difficult to quit, especially my boyfriend. I am an introvert and up until I met him I had never been to bar aside from a couple times. Contrarily, my boyfriend's social life was centered around the bars. There are some moments where we both have that desire drink, but we haven't given in to it once since we started drinking non alcoholic beers.

    That's an interesting suggestion, bluedressed. Maybe I will try it one day. I'm not sure. The Coors NA really isn't too bad, though.
  10. juno

    juno Community Champion

    It's great that non alcoholic beer worked for you and you were still able to maintain your social life. It is very true that many people have difficulty to quit because of their social life. Not everyone has the will power to abstain and stick to the non alcoholic beverages. That is the biggest problem in social surroundings. However, the will power is something that needs to be achieved when it comes to sobriety.
  11. hellonamesdana

    hellonamesdana Senior Contributor

    Non alcoholic beer is the grossest thing I've ever tasted. When I was younger, like 12-14, my best friend and I would take them from my downstairs fridge (because we had a huge case of it for some reason at our house) and we would pretend we were getting drunk to fit in with the kids in school, but it was non alcoholic, and we would post pictures of us drinking it to fit in. It sort of worked. But I don't see it's purpose since it doesn't really taste like real beer.
  12. Rub

    Rub Member

    Non-alcoholic beer is like a rubber-woman. It most disgusting beer I've ever tasted. I don't think it can solve the problem. I think that your guy afraids to refuse drinking in front of his friends.
  13. Nichole W.

    Nichole W. Member

    Good for you guys! Keep up the good work. I think this is a good strategy. Alcohol whether or not we like to admit it plays a huge role in our social life. I found in college it was helpful to carry around a red solo cup with sprite, or empty out a beer can and fill it with soda. That way I could still be part of the party without having to explain myself or why I wasn't drinking to the entire world.
    blur92 likes this.
  14. Winterybella

    Winterybella Community Champion

    NicoleW., I have heard lots of stories of people faking it for the cameras so to speak. Pretending to be holding their drinks when they are really holding their soda.

    That aside, I am still very happy for Blur92. She is not faking it and if she was I would say "fake it until you make it.'
  15. blur92

    blur92 Senior Contributor

    Thanks Nichole. That advice may come in handy if the situation ever arises. Sometimes people can be condescending or mocking of others who quit. Luckily, I haven't come across any. Most have been encouraging. Thanks Wintery :)
  16. muthoni

    muthoni Active Contributor

    My ex- boyfriend introduced me to alcohol. I loved dancing and we would go out every night to a discotheque. I was even given a complimentary ticket so that I could go in for free. I would drink so much that I could not remember how I got home. When I stopped drinking I stopped going out to a bar or anywhere else where they sell alcohol. Thanks to God, I have been clean for several years.
  17. joshua minaya

    joshua minaya Active Contributor


    If going to bars would make him go back to his old ways then i would recommend he limits it as much as possible.
  18. blur92

    blur92 Senior Contributor

    Muthoni, that is great you have been clean for years :)

    Joshua Minaya, I agree to an extent. It was a concern of mine. One of his jobs, though, is working for a bar so he can not entirely avoid them. Before we quit we usually had several drinks there after his shift, but it has not happened since. Another problem is that depression would kick in stronger when he did not go. It is where his friends go to hang out. He enjoys unwinding there, playing a few games of pool, and cracking jokes with his buddies.
  19. If I had a loved one who was a recovering alcoholic, I am not sure I would want them to drink no alcoholic beer. I would worry that it would then tempt them to want "the real thing." But I guess for some it might help them to socialize with friends and such without actually drinking.
  20. hellonamesdana

    hellonamesdana Senior Contributor

    I know that a lot of kids in college have wondered if they replaced all beer with non alcoholic beer instead, would they even notice and would they still act crazy and drunk, or would they completely notice and get angry? It would definitely be a really good experiment for someone to try if it hasn't already been done before.