Non-alcoholic beer and wine
 

I'm curious... Does drinking non-alcoholic beer and wine "count"? What I mean is, where does it fall in the sobriety spectrum? I've been working very hard to maintain sobriety and have found that ordering an NA beer at a bar/restaurant or even drinking an NA beer or glass of wine at home really curbs my cravings. I've alway loved the taste of both more than the alcohol they contained. I used LARGE amounts of vodka for that :headbange I do know that no "non-alcoholic" beer is truly without any alcohol (0.5% or something) but is it a no-no?
What are your personal opinions? What does AA say about it?

AA has no opinion. My opinions don't really matter either. If you are well enough along in your own sobriety, and feel comfortable drinking them, then go ahead. if not, don't.
But that's just me....

Non-alcoholic beer has alcohol in it. Personally, I think it's dangerous.

And, for me, I don't want any kind of reminders of my drinking days.

Since you asked for opinions....Personally I wouldn't do it. I choose not to even use mouthwash with alcohol because I don't want to trigger the phenomenon of craving. I also choose not to have non-alcoholic margaritas or anything like that because it is just a reminder. Plus with NA beer/wine, I know I would end up drinking huge quantities to catch a buzz....if not at first, then long-term.

This question comes up quite often. Most here think it's either dangerous (too much of a trigger for the real thing) or completely unnecessary because they drank to get drunk, not to enjoy the taste. I feel like it depends on the person. If you're afraid it will cause you to relapse, then by all means stay away from it.

I was a beer drinker, so it seems kind of perverse to me to drink NA beer. Too close to old behaviour for my liking.

I also remember I used to drink it when I was (vainly) trying to moderate, and it always left me frustrated and invariably led me back to the real thing....so it's a no from me.

D

Absolutely not for this alkie. I wouldn't even consider it and never have done, neither in my drinking days or in my sobriety.

I think my old man bought me an NA beer years ago at the pub having a meal when they were trying to make me consider 'moderating'. I was so depressed and just had a couple of real beers afterwards and then went to the shop and bought an 8 pack and got smashed as per usual. Total alkie me and my mind would want real beer not fake beer.

I just cannot see the point in NA beer. I never could.

Peace

I have one sometimes when out to dinner, occasionally at home. No big deal for me. But it can be for some. I don't think it "counts"... But I don't make a habit of having them, and anyway, they don't have free refills like they do with the soft drinks ;).

But that's just me.

For me personally, I would avoid it,tried NA beer the 1st time i tried to get sober and it just kicked off me drinking again, I agree with Anna

Nawneet

I drank to get numb, not for the taste. I was a drunk, not a wine connaisseur.;)

Hi Im Sharon and Im an
alcoholic.

By the grace of my HP
and people like you here
in SR I havent found it
necessary to pick up a
drink of alcohol since
8-11-90.

For that and you I am
truely grateful.

Ive heard that it would
take aweful amounts
of near bear to get any
sort of affect from it.

I'll stick to my water
with lemon which is
healthier for me.

For me there will never
been enough alcohol in
this world to satisfy my
cravings for it.

All those pretty packages,
and fancy names is nothing
but a disguise for POISON.

Pretty Poison.

NA Beer just plain sucks in my opinion. It tastes horrible to me. Plus it has alcohol in it though not enough to make me drunk. And to me that's the point of beer. I just don't bother with any of that stuff anymore. I don't want to even waste the brainspace trying to decide whether or not I should bother with it. Safer and less effort to for me to nix the whole idea of NA beer.

Like Mark, I have one or two on occasion. If I buy a six-pack, it usually lasts a couple of weeks or more. There are just some foods that it tastes good with. Hasn't been a problem at all for me. However, I am not recommending it to anyone. Again, if you think it might be a problem for you, then avoid it.

I spotted an answer above that said if you think you would relapse as a result of NA beverages, then you should stay away from it. It really comes down to that, because if it's important to you to stay away from "drinking," then that desire should determine your other decisions and actions.

My personal experience is that I have not tried it. I don't want to try it now that I have quit drinking, because I think it would remind me of "drinking." I don't really know what would happen after that. Would I uncontrollably get fancy ideas about drinking the real thing in a day or two, a week or two? I don't even know how to answer that. The whole thing is just in the "No" category for me. Even though beer was my "drug of choice," I don't miss the taste of it (part of me thought it was fricking gross all along and was just used to it for the sake of the drug effect; and now I see it as gross and am content with that).

Alcohol in hand sanitizer or mouthwash? I can deal with that, although I don't feel the need to use these products on a consistent basis. (And I think of people on here who are of the oppoisite opinion and won't use these almost every time, ha ha.)

Alcohol in food? I don't go looking for it, and I wouldn't order it. If I were at a fish/chips joint, I would probably not get "beer-battered fish" just because of the words and maybe fear over what it would do. But I don't really remember having the clear sense that I was eating a product that was "beer-battered" before.

I'm different and so are a lot of people.

I don't know how long you have been away from drinking, but if you are in soul-searching mode, then maybe your answer is not to have it for another month, and ask yourself the question again. You may not even be interested in it in the future, but we're just not there yet.

I heard in a meeting a guy regale a story of this subject. He asked his sponsor about NA beer. His sponsor said "what does it say on the bottle?" He replied "non-alcoholic". His sponsor then asked "what are you"?

Pretty much sums up my thoughts on it.

I had one in the summer, and for me I know it would just lead to the real thing....so no thanks

"(0.5% or something)"


The Doctors Opinion --

pg xxviii

"We believe, and so suggested a few years ago, that the action of alcohol on these chronic alcoholics is a MANIFESTATION OF AN ALLERGY; that the phenomenon of craving is limited to this class and never occurs in the average temperate drinker. These ALLERGIC TYPES CAN NEVER SAFELY USE ALCOHOL IN ANY FORM AT ALL;"

REMEMBER that we deal with ALCOHOL --- CUNNING, BAFFLING, POWERFUL!


MANY OF US TRIED TO FIND AN EASIER, SOFTER WAY!

This is exactly how I feel about it and the relationship I had with it post-quitting drinking, tho given my recent diagnosis of Hep C, I may have to reconsider my consumption of even that rare, trace amount of alcohol. Which really sucks because an O'Douls tastes great with pizza...jus sayin

Yeah, probably wouldn't be a good thing for you right now. Like I said, it depends on the person. I haven't bought any in a couple of months.