Non-alcoholic beer... Your thoughts?
Member
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Overseas... on the shore of an uncharted desert isle.
Posts: 254
Originally Posted by HelloHiHey 
It's new years eve in Tokyo. I'm going to have a quiet evening.
Anyway, I've discovered that they have a lot of non-alcoholic beers here (maybe 8 varieties at a grocery store.) In your experience, is non-alcoholic beer a safe option during recovery?
Is it similar to using a non-nicotine based stop smoking aid to quit smoking?
Is there a small amount of alcohol in these beers?
Interested in your thoughts and/or experiences. Happy new year!
Anyway, I've discovered that they have a lot of non-alcoholic beers here (maybe 8 varieties at a grocery store.) In your experience, is non-alcoholic beer a safe option during recovery?
Is it similar to using a non-nicotine based stop smoking aid to quit smoking?
Is there a small amount of alcohol in these beers?
Interested in your thoughts and/or experiences. Happy new year!
If you have to ask the honest question whether drinking NA beers might trigger a relapse, it's probably not for you. Same goes for anything else which includes colas (if your poison was mixed drinks).
I used to like the NA beers especially when dining out. Sweetened ice tea, colas, fruit juices weren't exactly the best drinks to accompany dinner. However, I got tired of NA beers as they were not perfect either. Now, I opt for the 'saltier' carbonated mineral waters like San Pellegrino and if I can get it, I like Gerolsteiner the best.
Member
Join Date: Oct 2008
Posts: 6,947
I never had a problem with NA beer, I have one occasionally, but not many lately. Some liken it to injecting saline for IV addicts, or snorting inert powder... I don't see it like that at all, OTH, I have had very few that I thought tasted really good. Once I had one while out with extended family at a really fancy restaurant and was glad I ordered it... That is definitely the exception... usually, when I do order one, I regret it... they cost twice as much and you don't get free refills... LOL
So it goes
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Manchester UK
Posts: 1,620
Originally Posted by MrsKing
I was a wine drinker... I don't think I'd ever go near NA wine, just because it's a little too close for comfort in my mind. I've heard it tastes just like grape juice, which I drink every now and again, but since grape juice doesn't come in a green glass bottle and I don't drink it in a wine glass it feels OK somehow.
There is an NA drinks shop near me. I have often wondered what it is like inside, but never been tempted to go in, though in my experience NA wine has always been revolting.
I take the point about the type of glass to drink from, mind you at the end, I would drink wine from mugs so it didnt look like I was drinking, and ffs, I was drinking alone!!!
I was drinking NA beer on Friday as I met an old friend. There is still something of the male bonding which says you have to meet in bars. Fortunately he saw that I did not enjoy the pub atmosphere any more, and so we went for a curry.
Now that is real male bonding, over a good ruby.
Member
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Massachusetts
Posts: 3,550
No, not a safe option. Entirely aside from the small alcohol content, I believe that the brain's association of the taste of alcohol with the "buzz" obtained from the conventional variety can act as a trigger to graduate to regular beer, placing the otherwise recovering patient again on a slippery slope.
W.
W.
Member
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: highland beach, florida
Posts: 649
Originally Posted by Natom
There have been several threads about non-alcoholic beers in the few months I have been a member of this forum. My experience with non-alcoholic beers was not a good one. You can get 'true' non-alcoholic beers that have 0.0% alcoholic content but the majority of them are something along the lines of 0.005%.
In my experience it is not the alcoholic content that is harmful but rather the association you get when drinking them. They taste vaguely the same (they actually taste worse), they come in what looks, from a faraway glance, like a normal beer bottle or can. And you drink it in the same way that you would an ordinary beer. This is a huge minefield of association for any recovery alcoholic or addict. You are essentially 'teasing' your addiction. My drug of choice was cocaine. I see drinking non-alcoholic beer in the same way as I would see myself sniffing plain white flour. It's pretty pointless but also pretty dangerous in terms of bringing up memories and emotions.
I started drinking non-alcoholic beers in recovery. I limited them to very special occassions. First it was my fiances 18th birthday party, then it was a Christening. Then it was just Fridays and Saturdays. I ended up keeping a pack of them in the fridge. I should really have known something was going wrong then. Long story short. I got bored of drinking fake alcohol and decided to drink real alcohol and popped to the pub and bought myself the first of many Stellas that started a destructive 3 month relapse. Was the relapse caused directly caused by the non-alcoholic beers? No. Were the non-alcoholic beers a major contributing factor as to why I relapsed? Most definitely.
In my opinion, there is no point. You're walking a fine line between association and complacency. And it's just not worth it. Stick to soft drinks. Your sobriety isn't worth throwing away over something that tastes horrible anyway. Have a good new years and stay safe.
Natom.
In my experience it is not the alcoholic content that is harmful but rather the association you get when drinking them. They taste vaguely the same (they actually taste worse), they come in what looks, from a faraway glance, like a normal beer bottle or can. And you drink it in the same way that you would an ordinary beer. This is a huge minefield of association for any recovery alcoholic or addict. You are essentially 'teasing' your addiction. My drug of choice was cocaine. I see drinking non-alcoholic beer in the same way as I would see myself sniffing plain white flour. It's pretty pointless but also pretty dangerous in terms of bringing up memories and emotions.
I started drinking non-alcoholic beers in recovery. I limited them to very special occassions. First it was my fiances 18th birthday party, then it was a Christening. Then it was just Fridays and Saturdays. I ended up keeping a pack of them in the fridge. I should really have known something was going wrong then. Long story short. I got bored of drinking fake alcohol and decided to drink real alcohol and popped to the pub and bought myself the first of many Stellas that started a destructive 3 month relapse. Was the relapse caused directly caused by the non-alcoholic beers? No. Were the non-alcoholic beers a major contributing factor as to why I relapsed? Most definitely.
In my opinion, there is no point. You're walking a fine line between association and complacency. And it's just not worth it. Stick to soft drinks. Your sobriety isn't worth throwing away over something that tastes horrible anyway. Have a good new years and stay safe.
Natom.
I am totally with you Natom on this one. In fact I brought this subject up a few weeks ago. I have been sober 25 yrs--25yrs and started drinking O'Doul's non -alcoholic beer with dinner, then it was 2 with dinner, when I began lying to my husband about how many I was drinking I realized I had a problem.
Like you said not the alcohol content it is the alcoholic "ritual" that starts the brain thinking ---if I continued I truely believe I would of relapsed--AFTER THIS LONG----Frankly I think there should be a WARNING ---This is not for alcoholics!!!!
Today I was still thinking about how good a cold beer would taste--I am devastated that this stupid and innocent move almost ruined my sobriety.
I'm really not sure I would of relapsed, but I am a DRAMA QUEEN and it has scared the Hell outta me.
Member
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: WI
Posts: 13
Originally Posted by HelloHiHey
It's new years eve in Tokyo. I'm going to have a quiet evening.
Anyway, I've discovered that they have a lot of non-alcoholic beers here (maybe 8 varieties at a grocery store.) In your experience, is non-alcoholic beer a safe option during recovery?
Is it similar to using a non-nicotine based stop smoking aid to quit smoking?
Is there a small amount of alcohol in these beers?
Interested in your thoughts and/or experiences. Happy new year!
Anyway, I've discovered that they have a lot of non-alcoholic beers here (maybe 8 varieties at a grocery store.) In your experience, is non-alcoholic beer a safe option during recovery?
Is it similar to using a non-nicotine based stop smoking aid to quit smoking?
Is there a small amount of alcohol in these beers?
Interested in your thoughts and/or experiences. Happy new year!
Member
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Overseas... on the shore of an uncharted desert isle.
Posts: 254
Originally Posted by HelloHiHey
It's new years eve in Tokyo. I'm going to have a quiet evening.
Anyway, I've discovered that they have a lot of non-alcoholic beers here (maybe 8 varieties at a grocery store.) In your experience, is non-alcoholic beer a safe option during recovery?
Is it similar to using a non-nicotine based stop smoking aid to quit smoking?
Is there a small amount of alcohol in these beers?
Interested in your thoughts and/or experiences. Happy new year!
Anyway, I've discovered that they have a lot of non-alcoholic beers here (maybe 8 varieties at a grocery store.) In your experience, is non-alcoholic beer a safe option during recovery?
Is it similar to using a non-nicotine based stop smoking aid to quit smoking?
Is there a small amount of alcohol in these beers?
Interested in your thoughts and/or experiences. Happy new year!
Occasions when I might drink a NA beer in Japan:
- It's on the menu of the restaurant or bar I'm at, and I order one for the obligatory 'kampai'.
- I'm at someone's home and they offer me one (knowing that I don't drink booze).
- There's a pack of NA beer in the fridge; my Better Half drinks, she keeps wine in the fridge and sometimes she picks up a six-pack of NA beer which she drinks occasionally too. I no longer care for it due to the carbs but will partake of one once in a while.
However, I do not think I have ever bought an NA beer or pack of NA beer from the grocery store. The reason is simple - it's often kept in the same section as the beer and wine (not always) and I have no reason to visit it. Also, some of the newer NA brands look awfully similar to their alcoholic brethren.
If you are still in recovery, it's not the NA beer that might worry me - it would be the unnecessary visits to the booze section of the grocery store that I would be concerned about.
Member
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: WA
Posts: 891
Tried NA options on one of my many attempts to sober up. Other than feeling utterly disappointed it left a taste association that left me craving for the real thing. I then went to light and mid strength and simply drunk more to compensate.
Periods of sobriety usually started with a day of nothing, then the stinking thinking would creep in, I would load up on coke and chocolate and after a day or two felt "safe" enough to have no more than two beers or glasses of wine for "good health" which never worked. Delusional thinking is alcoholic thinking. Non-alcoholic beer is for non-alcoholics. I won't risk coca cola and drunk Ginger Beer over the holidays, because I've never liked it and never had it as a mix with hard liquor (like coke etc). Its not bad once you get used to it but one is usually enough. I won't even touch lemon lime and bitters.
Periods of sobriety usually started with a day of nothing, then the stinking thinking would creep in, I would load up on coke and chocolate and after a day or two felt "safe" enough to have no more than two beers or glasses of wine for "good health" which never worked. Delusional thinking is alcoholic thinking. Non-alcoholic beer is for non-alcoholics. I won't risk coca cola and drunk Ginger Beer over the holidays, because I've never liked it and never had it as a mix with hard liquor (like coke etc). Its not bad once you get used to it but one is usually enough. I won't even touch lemon lime and bitters.
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