Thoughts on NA beer. Good or bad idea?
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That’s not much to go off of.
Thanks. When you say you feel like something different, what do you mean? I am almost 6 weeks and thought it’s a nice day sports are on and do t want to drink but want to drink something besides water or flavored water etc.. just didn’t know if tasting NA beer would make me want a real one. You know?
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Depends on whether they help or hurt your chances of staying sober, plus whether your use of them hinders anyone else's sobriety. Personally, NA beers would annoy me about as much as decaff coffee does. And i know newcomers to the rooms that would certainly be tripped up. But your situation might be different.
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I tended toward ice cream shakes over virgin drinks at 6 weeks, myself.
If you really like the taste of the non alcohol components of beer, there has been an upswing of craft non-alcoholic beers introduced recently. One of my best friends runs a bbq restaurant attached to a brewery. When I go visit him there I’ll sometime get a Brooklyn Special Effects Hoppy Amber, which has surprisingly good flavor if you like hops. If your really interested, google “craft non-alcoholic beer”. All that being said, I’m about 3 years sober and I didn’t even consider trying one until about a year ago when my friend started the bbq business. At that point I was comfortable with my sobriety and the feelings of missing alcohol had passed. If you think that the taste of something similar to beer will still trigger you to reminisce about the good ol’times, I’d recommend staying away until those feelings pass. They will in time.
It’s all about where you are in your sobriety, and I think what you used to drink regularly has an impact as well. I have three years of sobriety and I drink NA beers and sparkling wines, but I don’t have any interest in trying the NA red wines because that was one of my drinks of choice when I did drink and I think it would make me want the real thing. But the beer and sparkling wine I am totally fine with. Try it out and see how you feel about it, if you try the NA and it makes you want a real beer then maybe not at good choice at the moment. But if you can just enjoy the NA for what it is then have at it. Like Chris said, there’s a huge craft NA beer industry now. My favorite brewery is Athletics.
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I wouldn’t tempt fate. There are plenty of other drink options out there. For me, I take my sobriety as being a matter of life and death, because that’s what it is. So, I don’t do anything that may jeopardize my sobriety, including N/A beer, etc.
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I personally would never drink something that would remind me of using. Also, that near stuff still has alcohol in it although minuscule. Think it’s like .5% or something like that. To each their own tho. If it’s ok in your mind then who am I to say this or that.
I use NA beers when I want to go out and be around people who will be drinking. I know a lot of people don't recommend it but it has helped me a bunch. I dont get cravings like I used to.
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Non alcoholic beer is great for non alcoholics
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IDK to me it seems something you would do if you really really wanted to still be able to drink, but CAN’T. The trick to long term sobriety seems to be getting to a point where you don’t want to drink. Pretending to drink seems like a precursor to real drinking. Slow track to a relapse. Idk it’s not for me. There are lots of soft drinks that are delicious, without pretending to be a cocktail.
My personal preference is to obstain from any thing that may taste or temp me ! I go as far as no alcohol in my food ! I have over 38 years of recovery , many times over that time period I had to make choices , pertaining to this topic ! I always chose , no to indulge, it’s worked for me ! I know it will work for you ! Cheers
I stay away. Don’t want the euphoric recall kicking in.
I haven’t tried them and I have been enjoying mocktails/juices, seltzers, teas, coffees
Thanks everyone for comments I tried a couple and it was fine. They didn’t taste very good but I did notice that I could smell the alcohol on peoples breath and it made me not want to drink so I’ll take that as a positive.. Turns out it didn’t make me want to drink real beer any more or less but didn’t really care for the taste and then saw the way people changed after drinking a lot and was glad that I was sober
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It depends if you like the taste the of beer you will like it but it may be a trigger
Totally a personal choice. I enjoy them. I like trying different NAs. But its a personal choice for sure. If the flavor or some other hook triggers you, quit immediately. It doesn't happen to me.
No fakes or near beer.just me.34 years