Non-alcoholic beer (Is that considered cheating if sober)
 

Anyone drink any non-alcoholic beers like O-douls when they have the carvings or just for the taste of it? I've read that some of the non-alcoholic beers have tiny amount of alcohol in it.

I think there's a little bit of alcohol in it.. But you'd have to drink a ton to get drunk..

And I never drank beer for the taste, anyway.

would that be considered cheating if you are trying to stay sober?

I'm not sure why you would want to drink the fake beer.
I think it opens all sorts of doors, and keeps booze in the forefront of your mind.. As if it wasn't there already.
I went ahead and bought a bunch of teas, hot chocolate, diet sodas, and sparkling waters.. Discovering what I liked to drink that had nothing to do with booze.

Sometimes I muddle mint and cucumber, and pour club soda over it.
Makes it fancy.

Just a thought..

I personally never drank for the taste... I drank for the effect. Non alcoholic beer seemed like a waste of time and money to me...

Maybe take this time to find another beverage you can enjoy. I recently found I love tea! There are thousands of options. But, like it was stated above...NA beer is playing with fire, in my case at least.

my suggestion is stay away from it. there are plenty of sodas, juices etc that are better tasting.
I've always been told "non alcoholic beer is for non-alcoholics"

You can get beer that is completely 0%. I often drank it when at special occasions such as birthdays, but sometimes if the 0% wasn't available I would drink the ones with 0.005%. It wasn't so much the alcohol content that was bugging me. It was all of the association that came with it. The smell, the chilled bottle. The pint glass. I started drinking again and drinking non-alcoholic beer definitely played a large part in my relapse. Although alcohol was not my drug of choice I will never touch a non-alcoholic beer again.

This question comes up quite often. Most here think it's playing with fire. It smells like beer, the can/bottle fits in your hand like a beer, it's carbonated like beer and, depending on what brand you buy, it can taste somewhat like beer. For some, that is just asking for a relapse.

I, myself, can have a non-alcoholic brew and not be tempted to go out and get the real thing. I can buy a six-pack and it will last a couple or three weeks. Sometimes, I like to have one with certain foods, but I find that they make me a bit bloated, so I rarely drink more than one at a time.

Again, I think the majority of responses will encourage you to not take the chance, but, like you say, we have to make our own choices. It isn't one I would take on lightly, especially if beer was your beverage of choice.

I don't drink the stuff, but not because of the trace amount of alcohol in it or because I think I will be triggered.

I don't drink it because the few times I did take a sip, it tasted AWFUL. I mean, the stuff is sludge with no redeeming value, IMHO. I vastly prefer a nice glass of iced tea or a soda.

Drinking NA beer is like teasing a pit bull. Not a problem until someone lets the dog out.

Your drinking days need to be over and yes NA beer has alcohol in it so it is highly not recommended. The whole thought of your drinking days needs to be crushed

Thanks for all the advice! I was really considering buying some this weekend, but now I wont. Maybe at like events where everyone is drinking I may decide to have one, or maybe not.

Try diet gingerale. No calories and no alcohol. Tastes great and refreshing! I'm on day 14, and the gingerale has pulled me through the evenings.

For me, "non alcoholic beer" is an oxymoron. Like "sugar free cookies".
Why would I want either? No buzz, no sugar, no thanks! :)

Besides drinking alcohol in the past, I mainly just drank water and one cup of green tea in the AM. I thought that it would have helped me psychologically if I had one of the NA drinks with dinner like I have been used to in the past. I would always have wine or beer with my dinner in the past even after having 10-12 drinks before.

That is a whole other subject, I would not go to drinking events early in sobriety. A tremendous number of people can not resist the urge. Even today I avoid drinking events or at the very least I drive seperately so I can leave when I start wigging out

Thanks MiRecov! I don't anticipate going to any events involving drinking anytime soon. Thanksgiving shouldn't be bad as most of my family members don't drink much. However, every year during Christmas time, all of our close friends get together for a big party where everyone is drinking. I may pass on it this year though.

JL, I have mixed emotions about the NA. I like the taste but there is the nagging in the back of my head reminding me what's missing.

In my opinion and for me, this is just a gateway to real beer. I Dont want to drink anymore, real or simulated. Proceed with caution.

I have had it, but only after about six months of absolute sobriety, cause I missed the taste with certain foods. I never felt it was a trigger, in fact it helped me feel like I wasn't deprived of the flavor. But I LOVED beer, in addition to alcohol.
Now, many years later, not interested in it. I love 7up for some reason.
If you think it will be a trigger, it probably will. You have to be honest with yourself. Playing with fire? Probably to some extent.

I had to ask myself why I would choose NA beer when there's so many other tasty and truly non alcoholic things to drink that don't remind me of my drink of choice.

Is it really the taste of a beer you want, or are there other things happening here as well?

D