Does Drinking Non-Alcohlic beer Work?
 

I have been substituting non alcohol beer for the real thing. Is this a good Idea? I look forward to getting a six pack however, I feel good in the morning. Is this the wrong approach to stop drinking?

I know I have a problem and I am looking for ways to curtail it. What do you think?

Teach

I guess it depends on what you are trying to accomplish and why, the non alcoholic beers do contain alcohol just less, so you are still taking alcohol into your system, if this is your approach to stop drinking, sorry to tell you this but you havn't stopped, just cut it way down, I know for myself I am an alcoholic and can have no alcohol.
if your not alcoholic like me then this may work great for you,
I know for myself my alcohol intake was but a symptom of deeper problems. that I had to deal with after I stopped drinking compleatly.

My best to you

Jay

Another Forum I belong to has just been discussing this subject.

A physician on that forum wrote stating that many foods contain some alcohol. For example orange juice contains about the same alcohol as NA beer, and one cannot get drunk on orange juice -- they would have water intoxication first.

Another likened drinking NA beer to drinking decaffenated coffee -- why bother.

I personally drink decaf coffee after lunch -- I personally think some of the better grinds taste just fine. I also have drunk NA beer in the past when I was still drinking because I couldn't afford any alcohol on board at that time --- and occasionally I have found one that was ok, but I switched to the real thing as soon as I could.

The general consensus on the other forum was that one's intention for drinking NA beer has to be examined. If there is any chance that you will be tempted to drink the real thing because of memories the taste of NA beer triggers, steer clear of it. (I, personally, won't touch NA beer at this point). If, however, you enjoy it as a beverage with a taste you like and are not thinking of getting high -- go ahead.

On a slightly different subject:
I have been very impressed in the past 10 years or so when driving around Great Britain on holiday that most pubs now have a NA beer (bitter) on draft. I have tried a few, and they weren't bad. Of course, at the time, I was looking for the buzz, so I immediately switched to the "real thing." I did notice, though, that a number of people seem to routinely drink it at the pub-- even to the point that the "bartender" automatically drew it for them.

Just my 2 cents' worth. I haven't verified the alcohol facts for orange juice, but the figure the physician gave for NA beer was right on the mark (if only my memory was better as what the actual numbers are).

Cheers --

Jim

It never worked for me, but I'm an alcoholic, I drank to get drunk.

It doesn't seem like a good choice to me, if one is trying to stop drinking, but thats just my thought.

I could never curtail my problem, I had to stop it altogether. To do that, I had to stop living in the problem, (drinking) and start living in the solution, (not drinking).

Good luck.

Hi Teach,welcome to the forum.

Non alcoholic beer does contain small amounts of alcohol.If as you say you have a drinking problem and would like to quit,then taking even small quantities of alcohol is never a good idea.

Maybe you need to ask yourselfwhy do you want to drink non alcoholic beer anyway ? Do you really like the taste of beer that much that you would want to jeapordize your sobriety by drinking non alcoholic beer? Or is it possible that maybe somewhere in your subconcious mind you have a reservation about drinking and have not accepted complete powerlessness over alcohol.

Whatever you do the choice is yours,but if you are really serious about your sobriety then you should take more responsibility for yourself and stay away from all traces of alcohol.

Best of luck to you.
Peter.

I wouldsay this is not a good idea. Drinking a beer can alone is a trigger for relapse and, yes, it does have .01% alcohol content. This is nothing but to the alcoholic it is everything. If you are really an alcoholic that tiny amount will hit your system and you will want a bottle of good hard alcohol. In my inpatient program they even told us not to use mouth wash because it contains 50% alcohol (100 proof!). Believe it or not, people will swallow that stuff down, just like the Indians on the reservations will drink hairspray and kindly pay $15 a can for it. The best idea is to stay away from all things that could trigger you for relapse. Old drinking places, buddies, and things containing alcohol. good luck

Non-alcoholic beer is exactly for those who it says it's
for.....beer for a non-alcoholic.


Blessings,
Vinnie

Does drinking non-alcoholic beer work?
 

Hi Teach,
I believe the answer to your question is: Depends on what you're trying to do!
If I'm trying to quit drinking alcohol, it doesn't work simply because I'm still ingesting alcohol.
If I'm trying to get some kind of vicarious thrill from drinking almost beer then I guess it would work.
Question is: How many times would I have to visit a house of ill repute before I would get laid? How many times would I have to go to a barber shop before getting a haircut?
My choice today is to be clean and sober which to me means "completely free from all mind altering or mood altering chemicals or drugs." I don't believe I can acheive that goal by drinking non-alcoholic beer. JMO.

Music,

You reminded me of a saying I also heard...
"The only reason I went to the house of ill repute
was to listen to the piano music."

Blessings,
Vinnie

Hey Vinnie,
Yup. I guess if we hang around long enough we hear just about everything.
Sometimes we just have to look for the message.

Well if you're not alcoholic it doesn't really matter.If you are that's another matter.Consumption of alcohol triggers a physical reaction in alcoholics that is known as a phenomenon of craving in other words if I have a craving mentally for ice cream I will eat a bowl,I might eat a second bowl and the craving is satisfied,howerver I have never stayed out all night eating ice cream until I was puking and passed out,know what I mean?What happens when I put alcohol into my body it doesn't satisfy the craving it increases the craving for more no matter what I mentally want.Ask yourself Can I control the amount I drink every time?And when not drinking can I stay stopped on my own?If you are honest with yourself you will know if you are one or not.A little story,I am recovered alcoholic of the hopeles variety with an extreme sensitivity to alcohol.I decided to stop eating sugar and other crap for health reasons.I really love ice crean{I know ,another ice crean story,Jeez!}anyway there are ice creams with no sugar addes on the label,so I'm like cool so suddenly I'm thirsty,I can't figure it out I'm ready to throw my life away,I got no reason to drink,I'm prayin' my butt off,but I'm close to losin' it.S one day I go to the store to get some ice cream and am wondering how many carbs this stuff has and lo and behold there on the nutrition label Alcohol Sugar 6grams,I stopped eating it and the obsession left and hasn't come back to that degree since.
By the way I usually always just bought by the pint I was getting ready to by a gallon,Hm........Well that's my story and I'm stickin'to it.
Hope that helps someone

The act of drinking a beercan without alcohol isn't the best thing for someone trying to quit. just the act alone is a trigger. kickin back a non-alcoholic beverage sure would bring back unwanted memories for me. i would probably start to re-live those memories again this early in recovery. all in all its just not a wise idea. i mean, do you honestly like it just for the taste?

Near Beer ?????????
 

Teach,

I see that you got many replies to your post. Something I noticed is people replied talking about the disease of alcoholism/addiction and how a non-alcoholic beer may effect you. I believe the other posts here to be true.

I can give you something diiferent. I have experienced drinking fake beer in my recovery. I used to drink about two 12's a day of 0.5%alc/vol beer for about a month. It was expensive, made you spend hours in the bathroom and fill you up with gas. From my past experience I know that I was drinking near beer as a substitute for the real stuff. I think it may have helped me a little in the beginning, with maybe a little less withdrawel symptoms. Mine were pretty bad. I can't believe that I actually became addicted to fake beer at one point in time. This went on for maybe a month or so and eventually I relapsed (on 7% and 10% beer and 40%liquor.)

I don't plan on ever drinking any type of alcohol again. (Or at least not for today). I don't use mouthwash with alcohol in it. If I go to a restaurant I always ask how dishes are prepared. If I order a steak that is cooked with a wine based BBQ sauce, I ask for the steak plain.

About 6 months without any alcohol, I had a chocolate bar which had alcohol in it (I did not know). The cravings became just unbelievable. My mind came consumed by drink for a week. Never drank though.

I eat a tonne of ice cream, many AA's will reccomend a high suger diet to help with cravings. At least in my area, everybody recommends high suger diet for the first little while. I try to limit my caffiene. I don't know about this orange juice thing, but I drink a lot of dairy now.

Hope this helps.

Wow,thanks for sharing Still In the Dumps.

Peter.

nope...
 

This is just an oppinion but... all non-brew does is lead to ...well
real brew...why??
because you arn't really drinking for....heh.....ahh....flavor
your drinking for....effect....so.....all your getting is a tease.
your not getting what your looking for...ah...hmmm
that is ...a buzz. In my eyes...you either drink ...or...you don't.

much love,

myah* **

Myah
 

I believe that drinking fake beer will lead you to the real stuff (eventually) I did it myself. I don't consume anything with even the smallest amount of alcohol now. I'm approx 21 months dry.

Why, alcoholics minds are wired a little bit different. The smallest amount of alcohol in your body will create a manifestation of the brain to use as much alcohol as possible after that first drop. It is like an allergy. "One is too many and 1000 is never enough!" That one drop will make your mind say O.K. it's a start now lets go for oblivion.

That may not have been the perfect decription. If you want a better understanding I would recommend that you read the chapter "The Doctors Opinion" from the AA BIG BOOK.

Brain vs Motives
 

I've been sober for a while. If I get a bad cold and need to take some cough syrup I'll try to get the non-alcohol type but in a pinch I've been know to use regular cough syrup. I go on a spiritual 12 step retreat twice a year where there is mass held. During the communion, grape juice used to be used but that has changed. Because of the Bishop in the area, the retreat now uses real wine. About a half dozen times I've taken communion in a number of years.
I'm not going to argue the medical view of alcoholism because I don't care about the medical details. I've always been taught that to analyze, paralyzes! I know what my motives are when I take communion. I don't get a thrill from knowing I'm tasting wine or anything like that. I'm working my 11th step. My mind is where it should be at that time.
To go out and party with friends, or just to sit around and have something cold to drink and choose to comsume something with alcohol in it is to me, not smart. I may be able to do it for some time but sooner or later I believe it's going to bite back. JMO

self knowledge doesn't work for any recovering addict, so there really isn't any reason to anaylize the medical situation behind how small doses of alcohol can lead to relapse, etc. Just use common sense and leave anything with alcohol alone unless neccesary (the only thing i can think of is prescription cough syrup for bad coughs). You know better. Alcohol is not your friend but it wants to be yours.

I don't mean to be a Big Book thumper,I just am It's just that my experience has been that my situation is one of life and death.

pg.xxvi These allergic types can never safely use alcohol in ANY form at all.

If you want to play with fire that is your affair,that is if you are a real alcoholic,if your not truly an alcoholic drink as little or as much as you wish. It won't matter,however if you ARE a real alcholic as described on pg. 21 of the book Alcoholics Anonymous,beware.

God Bless Us Everyone.
Tiny Tim