non alcoholic beer
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2020
Posts: 49
non alcoholic beer
I've found that switching to this has helped a lot. Granted it may keep a person craving the real ones but at least there is no alcohol in them.
Sipping one right now while working from home.
Has anyone found these drinks helpful?
Another trick was to wait till it was my round in a big drinking session with mates and make my drink the non alcoholic one to give me a bit of respite for one round. No one is any the wiser.
Sipping one right now while working from home.
Has anyone found these drinks helpful?
Another trick was to wait till it was my round in a big drinking session with mates and make my drink the non alcoholic one to give me a bit of respite for one round. No one is any the wiser.
Member
Join Date: Mar 2014
Posts: 25,373
Thought you didn't "drink" at home?
This topic comes up a lot.
Most of us see no reason to poke that bear. Looks like, smells like, tastes like. Dangerous game and there are so many other more tasty, nutritious things to drink.
This topic comes up a lot.
Most of us see no reason to poke that bear. Looks like, smells like, tastes like. Dangerous game and there are so many other more tasty, nutritious things to drink.
Member
Join Date: May 2014
Location: Kerry, Ireland
Posts: 2,700
I personally never saw the point- simply too close to the real thing for comfort. I have known a few friends who drink them occasionally but I wouldn't feel comfortable, not really for the reason that there may be very small amounts of alcohol but I just don't see the point. I drank beer to get drunk, period! It's like holding onto a corner of the towel still.
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2020
Posts: 49
the alcohol content is 0.05% and apparently orange juice is 0.07%.
I do drink this stuff at home as I treat it like a soft drink - it'a also much better for you than coke or sugary drinks. It gets me by because in the younger years i would have a real one instead.
I hope it helps some people but if they choose to avoid it that might also be a good idea x
I do drink this stuff at home as I treat it like a soft drink - it'a also much better for you than coke or sugary drinks. It gets me by because in the younger years i would have a real one instead.
I hope it helps some people but if they choose to avoid it that might also be a good idea x
Grateful
Join Date: May 2013
Location: NC
Posts: 1,763
I tried NA beer during a shaky time in my sobriety back in 2004. I bought a 6 pack one day at the grocery store on an impulse and decided I would drink one NA beer a day. Two days later the 6 pack was gone. I drank 2 the first day and 4 the second day and gave up that experiment. I relapsed later that year after 7 years sober and I didn't get sober again for 8 years. I don't directly link the NA beer to my relapse, but in hindsight it was probably a warning sign that I was not doing what I needed to do to stay sober.
Member
Join Date: Mar 2014
Posts: 25,373
it'a also much better for you than coke or sugary drinks.
It's not better for Me.
I don't drink sugary drinks, either, though. I haven't had a Coke or any other carbonated sugary drink in over a decade. I don't even drink fruit juice any more. Whole fruit only. I do have one cup of homemade coffee and one glass of iced tea daily for a grand total of two teaspoons of sugar (or eight grams.) That's well within WHO guidelines for added sugar.
One 12 ounce O'doules non-alcoholic beer has more carbs than that....15 net carbs.
33g in a 12 ounce Coke.
Member
Join Date: Jun 2014
Posts: 2,775
Originally Posted by binger81 
I've found that switching to this has helped a lot. Granted it may keep a person craving the real ones but at least there is no alcohol in them.
Sipping one right now while working from home.
Has anyone found these drinks helpful?
Another trick was to wait till it was my round in a big drinking session with mates and make my drink the non alcoholic one to give me a bit of respite for one round. No one is any the wiser.
Sipping one right now while working from home.
Has anyone found these drinks helpful?
Another trick was to wait till it was my round in a big drinking session with mates and make my drink the non alcoholic one to give me a bit of respite for one round. No one is any the wiser.
Ultimately only you can decide if drinking non-alcoholic beer is a slippery slope or not.
Personally, I don't attempt anything tricky with booze When I buy cough medicine for example or any other medication I do my best to make sure alcohol isn't used.
I've been sober over 27 years and still notice bars in an airport as I walk past or when my wife doesn't finish her drink in a restaurant.
Member
Join Date: May 2009
Posts: 14,899
I've been sober over 27 years and still notice bars in an airport as I walk past or when my wife doesn't finish her drink in a restaurant.
Same here. I'm sober 10 years and I still notice when people don't finish their drinks and wonder "how do they do that?"
Same here. I'm sober 10 years and I still notice when people don't finish their drinks and wonder "how do they do that?"
Member
Join Date: Jun 2017
Posts: 2,909
Originally Posted by nez
No. Merely delayed my start date in recovery. The only tricks I found were the ones being played on me by alcohol.
Administrator
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Australia
Posts: 211,313
This topic comes up a lot.
Originally Posted by Dee74
I'm probably repeating myself in this thread but here goes
I don't drink NA beer because it looked like beer, felt like a can of beer, it smelt like beer, it had that same condensation thing on the can like a beer, the same fizz and foam when you pop the can, tasted like beer (kinda)....
Then I'd wonder why I'd go out everytime and get 'real' beer.
I was still knee deep in old behaviours, and didn't even realise it.
As a former beer drinker I know it ticks all the boxes for me, and opens the door to old behaviour and old thought patterns.
maybe ask yourself why would you choose NA beer when there's so many other things to drink, though?
If you being social is somehow connected to your drinking (and NA beer is drinking without the alcohol) then you're making a big rod for your back.
You can learn to be social without a crutch.
I look at the whole NA beer thing like tethering a dog...he can run around a little but he can still only run in circles.
why not get rid of the tether altogether?
I don't drink NA beer because it looked like beer, felt like a can of beer, it smelt like beer, it had that same condensation thing on the can like a beer, the same fizz and foam when you pop the can, tasted like beer (kinda)....
Then I'd wonder why I'd go out everytime and get 'real' beer.
I was still knee deep in old behaviours, and didn't even realise it.
As a former beer drinker I know it ticks all the boxes for me, and opens the door to old behaviour and old thought patterns.
maybe ask yourself why would you choose NA beer when there's so many other things to drink, though?
If you being social is somehow connected to your drinking (and NA beer is drinking without the alcohol) then you're making a big rod for your back.
You can learn to be social without a crutch.
I look at the whole NA beer thing like tethering a dog...he can run around a little but he can still only run in circles.
why not get rid of the tether altogether?
Member
Join Date: Oct 2019
Posts: 739
By the end of it I was I guess what you might call a beer snob. Especially with the explosion of craft breweries here in America. I also loved lots of the stuff from Belgium and Germany. That chapter is done and I don't even want to attempt to replace it with something fake.
Besides that it probably has lots of sugar. I only get so many cheat meals.
At home and socially I drink lots of seltzer, preferably flavored. It's got that refreshing kick, taste better then lots of the popular crap that passes for beer, and 0 calories.
Sometimes at functions where normal people are drinking and talking relaxed it sort of rubs off on me as I sip my seltzer and think wow, I forgot I'm not drinking too, and I'm fine with it. I use to be all nuts and filled with anxiety at these things, needing a drink as quickly as possible.
Besides that it probably has lots of sugar. I only get so many cheat meals.
At home and socially I drink lots of seltzer, preferably flavored. It's got that refreshing kick, taste better then lots of the popular crap that passes for beer, and 0 calories.
Sometimes at functions where normal people are drinking and talking relaxed it sort of rubs off on me as I sip my seltzer and think wow, I forgot I'm not drinking too, and I'm fine with it. I use to be all nuts and filled with anxiety at these things, needing a drink as quickly as possible.
luring sobriety this way with my lucky charm
Join Date: Mar 2020
Location: California
Posts: 738
I thought about trying non-alcoholic wine, because part of my personal psychological problem is the "atmosphere" and the "culture" of wine, and there are pretentious California wines that have been dealcoholized so that people with my specific issue can enjoy the culture and feel wine without imbibing...but I have yet to do so.
I have heard that there's one in particular that is very good, but others just might as well be overpriced grape juice.
I disagree with the people telling you not to drink it because it's 0.05 alcohol and might trigger you to drink...I have NEVER had an urge to drink after drinking kombucha (which is also 0.05% alcohol or less) in fact, I think sometimes the acrid taste of kombucha keeps me from craving that quality that only alcohol has. Almost like it's cleansing. I've got no issues being triggered to drink wine after a bottle or two low-no alcohol kombuchas. In fact the very opposite (the problem is drinking the higher alcohol ones for adults, as if they have as few consequences as the mainstream ones that are safe enough for children).
I am of a very strong belief that there are different types of problem drinkers. My therapist agrees with me. People who have mostly a psychological or "narrative" around drinking that isn't a daily problem yet, might actually do well transitioning on to non-alcohol beers and wines for the "feel" and "aesthetic" and "flavor." However, if the smell of hand sanitizer makes you want to go on a bender, the answer is no, no O'Doul's for you.
Pretending there isn't this distinction serves literally no one.
I have heard that there's one in particular that is very good, but others just might as well be overpriced grape juice.
I disagree with the people telling you not to drink it because it's 0.05 alcohol and might trigger you to drink...I have NEVER had an urge to drink after drinking kombucha (which is also 0.05% alcohol or less) in fact, I think sometimes the acrid taste of kombucha keeps me from craving that quality that only alcohol has. Almost like it's cleansing. I've got no issues being triggered to drink wine after a bottle or two low-no alcohol kombuchas. In fact the very opposite (the problem is drinking the higher alcohol ones for adults, as if they have as few consequences as the mainstream ones that are safe enough for children).
I am of a very strong belief that there are different types of problem drinkers. My therapist agrees with me. People who have mostly a psychological or "narrative" around drinking that isn't a daily problem yet, might actually do well transitioning on to non-alcohol beers and wines for the "feel" and "aesthetic" and "flavor." However, if the smell of hand sanitizer makes you want to go on a bender, the answer is no, no O'Doul's for you.
Pretending there isn't this distinction serves literally no one.
luring sobriety this way with my lucky charm
Join Date: Mar 2020
Location: California
Posts: 738
Originally Posted by RecklessDrunk
By the end of it I was I guess what you might call a beer snob. Especially with the explosion of craft breweries here in America. I also loved lots of the stuff from Belgium and Germany. That chapter is done and I don't even want to attempt to replace it with something fake.
Besides that it probably has lots of sugar. I only get so many cheat meals.
At home and socially I drink lots of seltzer, preferably flavored. It's got that refreshing kick, taste better then lots of the popular crap that passes for beer, and 0 calories.
Sometimes at functions where normal people are drinking and talking relaxed it sort of rubs off on me as I sip my seltzer and think wow, I forgot I'm not drinking too, and I'm fine with it. I use to be all nuts and filled with anxiety at these things, needing a drink as quickly as possible.
Besides that it probably has lots of sugar. I only get so many cheat meals.
At home and socially I drink lots of seltzer, preferably flavored. It's got that refreshing kick, taste better then lots of the popular crap that passes for beer, and 0 calories.
Sometimes at functions where normal people are drinking and talking relaxed it sort of rubs off on me as I sip my seltzer and think wow, I forgot I'm not drinking too, and I'm fine with it. I use to be all nuts and filled with anxiety at these things, needing a drink as quickly as possible.
Administrator
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Australia
Posts: 211,313
I am of a very strong belief that there are different types of problem drinkers. My therapist agrees with me. People who have mostly a psychological or "narrative" around drinking that isn't a daily problem yet, might actually do well transitioning on to non-alcohol beers and wines for the "feel" and "aesthetic" and "flavor." However, if the smell of hand sanitizer makes you want to go on a bender, the answer is no, no O'Doul's for you.
Pretending there isn't this distinction serves literally no one.
Pretending there isn't this distinction serves literally no one.
I've been everything from an easy drunk, to a weekend warrior, to drinking nightly and eventually an all day every day drinker.
I don't think I was any particular type of drinker in all those periods - looking back now it's more like, to me, like plot points on a graph named Alcoholism.
your interpretation may of course vary -but I think my experience probably serves as much people as yours does
D
EndGame
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: New York, NY
Posts: 4,677
Breaking up is hard to do.
I tried it a few times after I was sober for a few years. Nothing good about it for me.
It's great if it helps people, but how and when do you know that? Seems like it's too much of a gamble.
I tried it a few times after I was sober for a few years. Nothing good about it for me.
It's great if it helps people, but how and when do you know that? Seems like it's too much of a gamble.
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