I tapered by listening to my body. My hangovers were horrible after 6 strong IPA's (8-9 units?) daily, so I switched to coors light (4% alc. beer) and my hangovers went away so long as I drank less than six. I had to control my AV while I was drinking, which is dangerous because it's easy to take a false impression that you can control your drinking.
I'm stoked my friends don't drink around me and even hang out to do other things when i suggest going out for drinks. I have the best support atm, but need to get more independent. I'm planning on the fly, but it's been working. I've recently been telling my friends that if I ask if I should drink, or come with to go drink to tell me "what are your mornings like when you're drinking a lot?" More and more of my healthy friends are starting to come back into my world, and that means more to me than sitting at home and drinking.
My taper was kind of by accident, and was followed by getting sick, so I stopped on an unintended day. I just kept at it and am 47 days dry.
Physiologically, this time around is harder deeper in. Maybe it's the numerous relapses, but my last hard craving was at day 40. Anyone else find the AV to be annoying for longer when you taper? Maybe it's just my current health and state of mind...