Bruno1979

Anybody ever had this?

Is it any good?

I do like the taste of Lager/beer especially when its ice cold, what I don't like is the effect of the alcohol and what it leads to.

I also like ice cold diet coke too though,

We are going shopping now and I was thinking about buying a few bottles of the alcohol free lager/beer to see what its like.

It won't tempt me to the real stuff anymore than a cup of coffee or tea will do as I'm not going back to those days again.

It purely is a taste thing.

What are peoples thoughts?

Bruno.

Natom

This is something I wrote in one of the many threads about non-alcoholic beer.

My own experience with low alcohol (non-alcohol beer) was a bad one. I started off drinking the actual 0.0% ones at special occasions like birthdays. I soon moved onto having a pack of eight in the fridge for the weekend so I could feel 'normal'. I ended up drinking them for a while and then moving back onto the real thing. The problem doesn't lie with the alcohol content but all of the association you get when drinking them. As well as looking like a bottle/can of normal beer it also tastes vaguely the same. Add to that the sound of popping the bottle open and pouring it into a pint glass and you have one deadly recipe for a relapse....in my opinion.

Natom,

LadyinBC

I personally stay away from it as well as the NA wine. From what I hear there is a very smal small percentage of alcohol in the beer. I think that NA beer and wine is really for non-alcoholic people not alcoholics who don't drink anymore. I think this stuff would just get into my head in a negative way if I started drinking it. It just keeps up that facade that "I'm drinking", especially if it "tastes the same". And I loved the taste and smell of my alcohol when I drank. So for me, not good.

This is my opinion only though and people have do what is right for them.

Xune

There are plent of threads about this very topic...it is well discussed on SR.

You are free to do as you please.

I don't drink the stuff, as it would not contribute in any way to my recovery.

...and the stuff tastes like donkey butt.

Naive123

Hi, here in South Africa the alcohol free largers taste very close to the real mccoy. But why tempt yourself, in my opinion its not worth it...stick to the ice cold diet coke.

I tried substituting and it actually made it worse. My 2c worth....

LadyinBC

So did my cheap sherry so really it is just a reminder. For me anyways!

mecanix

For my tastes the ritual of it would be too close to the real thing .

I prefer to avoid temptation than suffer it though, it's worked for me for the last 16 months .
I just don't want anything to do with alcohol in my life anymore, for me it'd feel like a backwards step towards alcohol and my alcoholic behaviour, rather than embrasing all that a sober life has to give me .

I guess it's down to you though , good luck , M

LexieCat

I bought a six-pack at one point in my early recovery, reasoning that I DO like the taste (actually, I liked the taste of O'Doul's amber better than a lot of the real beers). It tasted good on a hot day, or with certain foods. I wound up drinking three of them (three bottles) over the first year or so. The rest sat in my fridge where they got in my way. After shoving them around for a couple of years I finally threw them out.

As others have said here, it's an individual thing, but not without risk. I was never a huge beer drinker so it didn't have the associations for me that it might for others. It did remind me a bit of the real thing, though, which is what I was trying to stay away from. It's a little bit like "pretend" drinking, which in general isn't a great idea. It feels a little too much like rehearsal for the real thing.

I don't consider folks who drink them to be "not sober" or to have slipped, but I think, overall, they lead in the direction of a drink more than away from it, if you know what I mean. I don't buy them, and have decided that, overall, they aren't great for my sobriety.

ivegotsunshine

Diet coke!
Several years ago when I was bartering my co-worker mistakingly gave one of my regulars (who had been sober for 20+ years) a heinikin instead of an o'Douls. I thought the poor guy was gonna die he was horrified he had drank the whole thing.
Personally, too close to comfort for me!

2granddaughters

Ice cold Alcohol free Lager/Beer???

I think I know now what it means in The Lord's Prayer "Lead us not into temptation ..."

All the best, Bruno.

Bob R

firestorm090

It's like drinking decaf coffee, it just doesn't have the same kick as the real stuff.

Eventually I always go back for the kick instead of the taste.

Best to steer clear.

Bruno1979

The general view of it is negative by the looks of it which is perfectly fine, its all down to personal choice and everybody knows their limits, which is good. There is no hope in hell of me drinking alcohol again, my life has been so much better since I stopped, I can drive when I want to, remember everything that I've said, feel healthier, feel happier, have lost weight and much much more.

Bruno1979

I've just had a taste of one and it was very enjoyable, not the type of drink where I could have 20 of them but maybe 2 or 3 with my food tonight watching tv will be good. It appears that I am a normal at drinking non alcoholic beer. Its a shame I couldn't do it with the real stuff.

Bruno.

Leemzer

I have had it in the past and it did not really give me the urge to drink, but why risk it, ya know? It also pisses me off because it is pretty much as expensive as the real thing.

I drink Diet Coke and you should too.....it really isn't worth even the chance of making you want the real thing. And I will say that it is both weird to hold it in the bottle and probably more weird to have it in a beer glass.

Come to think of it: DONT HAVE IT. LOL

Bruno1979

All of the ingrediants are the same, ie hops, malted barley, yeast etc the only thing that's missing is the alcohol.

I know somebody who has celiac disease and can't have gluten in their food so they eat gluten free food, is that similar to somebody who in effect is allergic to alcohol drinking alcohol free beer?

Bruno.

Bruno1979

It was on special offer at £1.99 for 8 so that is super cheap. Its a total risk free past event. Like I say, they aren't exactly moreish and I probably won't buy any more but if I didn't buy some and try it today I would have done it at some point in the future without fail.

Its done now, its alcohol free and not naughty. Lol.

CAPTAINZING2000

On these type of posts, I usually tell people if, they have to ask they shouldn't do it.. Pretty much the same thing I tell people early in recovery if, they have to attend a party where alcohol is being drank by people that, consume a lot.
It's not wise to do anything to jeopardize your sobriety early in recovery

Bruno1979

Its all over and done with now and I'm back on the diet coke and haven't had a massive relapse,

I'm looking forward to a night in front of the TV, (not that there's anything that's worth watching on) and another good days sledging in the snow tomorrow,

Have a good day/evening,

Bruno.

lovinmenow

Recipe for disaster. This stuff is such a trigger and when you don't get drunk you will want the real thing. Try Pepsi Max. Pour it warm over ice. Let it get super cold and it tastes so good.

lovinmenow

BTW if you could just read your original post that was your addict voice writing it not you. Sometimes when you write something and look at it later you can't believe you wrote it in the first place.