I know there a few other teetotallers on here, plus lots also knock the booze on the head in Jan, so I thought it might be prudent to have a place where we can recommend non-alcoholic and alcohol free options.
I’ll kick things off with a few of my faves
Less than 0.5%
Lervig No Worries Pale Ale
Lervig Driving Home For Christmas
Lucky Saint Unfiltered Lager
Rothaus Tannenzapfle Alkoholfrei Pilsner
Northern Monk Holy Faith
Athletic Brewery Run Wild Pale Ale
0%
Coast DDH IPA
Coast Centennial IPA
Guiness - really amazing how they’ve done it.
Nature De-Alcoholised Wine - Garnacha-Syrah- best NA wine I’ve ever tried
That and the Holy Faith were both very limited releases last year I think. I know Holy Faith is on its way back so I’m assuming they’ll also do the same with SS (which I haven’t tried). Holy Faith was definitely one of my faves, plus it came in a decent sized can.
Nearly three years sober for me this year end. Non alcoholic beers are funny aren’t they in that they always feel like they are missing the body. I like that Beavertown one saying that. And weirdly the Heineken one is pretty good straight out the fridge. I tried the Guinness - had heard good things but am a bit unconvinced. Will try again though.
Seedlip works for me though that might be as you get right into the tonic. But negative in general but it feels like they’ve yet to unlock it properly for me. I’ll check some of yours at the top Chris.
I hear you - it’s only really been in the past couple of years that I think they’ve really begun to hit their stride. The Beavertown and Coast one’s are made by the same wizard brewer in Belgium.
My outright faves I’d say are the Northern Monk Holy Faith and the Lucky Saint.
First time i had a na beer i thought it tasted strange like something was missing (and obviously it was). I’ve been sober for many years and got so used to drinking na beers and ciders that the few times iv’e tasted real beer by mistake i think it tastes like someone dropped a vodka shot in it. I’m in sweden so i don’t recognize any of the brands you mention besides heineken but i think there are a few over here that are good too.
I still drink the real stuff mainly but have liked a few of the ones I’ve tried. Brooklyn Special Effects is really good and easy to pick up. Had a nice Mikkeller one too and agree about the Beavertown and Lucky Saint.
Heineken def nails it best of the regular, non ‘craft’, options - not exactly a deep taste, but quite drinkable even when you’re not thinking of it as a beer replacement.
I’m not a tee-totaller but I’ve done periods in my life where I’ve gone sober and cut back and it is hard. When I was 22 I was prescribed six months of medication and was told that alcohol would have an impact on its effects, so I decided to stop completely since there was no point in attempting the cure half-heartedly. It was a success: the medication did what it was meant to do, and the bonus side effects were that I felt better, my skin was in better condition, I lost a lot of the weight from my belly without trying. But I had to contend with the social side of things: I drifted apart from a lot of friends after realising that 99% of our socialising was predicated on getting drunk together, and that we didn’t actually have that much in common beyond shared memories of falling in and out of taxis and club doorways. Ultimately though I’m glad I did it then: the people I hang about with now are people I have way more in common with and I spend my time much more wisely. Every few years I take a month or two off just to recalibrate, and knowing that I can do it and it’s not a problem is really useful to my mindset around it. It means that when I’m having a big weekend or whatever I know I can stop.
A month ago I got taken into hospital for four days with a kidney stone, and had to have two operations: one to remove it, which failed; and one to remove the stent they put inside me to help it pass since it couldn’t be removed. The aftermath of both operations was horrendeous and I never want to experience anything like it again. Not to be TMI about it but they enter via a route that isn’t designed to have traffic go in that direction, and the damage afterwards is beyond any scale. I wouldn’t wish it on any man. I’ve broken multiple bones at once and I would take that again over what I’ve experienced the past four weeks. I’ve been told there’s a 50/50 chance it will happen again unless I take major steps to prevent it, and one of those is that I need to stay hydrated ie less booze, more water. I don’t know anyone who actually manages to drink two litres of water a day like we’re all told we should, but my goal is to make it become such a natural part of my life that I don’t think about it.
What I’ve found really helps is making water “interesting.” So every night I make a flask up and fill it with water, and store it in the fridge. I’m adding cucumber, lemon wedges, mint stalks and frozen berries to it before I put it in to cool, so that in the morning instead of a glass of tepid tap water I’ve got something cold and infused with a bit of flavour. If I can be bothered and I fancy a bit more flavour, boiling water with some berries etc in it then straining the water and freezing it for ice cubes has been good too.
I’ve had to be really regimented about this and set aside time every night to do it, even though it’s just a few minutes it has made a big difference. I’ve never been a big beer or cider drinker, always spirits and alcopops, so having something a bit flavoured and fancy has made a difference to me. Anyway this is my top tip for Dry January.
Two more suggestions: Botanically Brewed with Bine Leaves | binary botanical - I like the fact they haven’t just tried to make an alcohol-free beer but something in its own right; it’s between beer, wine and a less-sweet Aqua Libre (for late 80s rave recovery “new age” drink vibes)
Clwb Tropica - Tiny Rebel Brewing Only had half-a-can before I realised it had lactose in and therefore wasn’t vegan but seemed fruity and tasty
Sounds like you’ve been through the wars - all the best with this next stage.
I finally quit booze 4 years ago today after several years of doing dry Jan one year, then dry Jan/Feb the next, then dry Jan/Feb/March etc. I did this for 5 years and got to May and then that October I was diagnosed with cancer, so all booze was off for a few months anyway as if you’ve ever had chemo, its the last thing on your mind anyway. I was then given the all clear the following Feb and I went completely wild - I’ve always been a party animal but I was going all out. I guess being faced with your own mortality and then being given another chance affects people in different ways, but I needed to blow off some steam. Then, that Dec, my daughter took a Polaroid pic on the camera we had got her for Christmas - I looked fucking awful - bloated, pasty skin - almost yellow, and that was it like a shockwave through my body. I just stopped overnight - lost almost 3 stone and haven’t touched a drop since. Sure I still like a party every now and again, but can easily manage it booze free these days, much to a lot of people’s amazement
Been thinking about going completely sober myself but the thought alone is pretty scary especially when 98% of my social interactions outside of work involve drinking. Maybe in a couple years when I turn 30 I’ll pack it in for good but I’m gonna give dry January my best shot this year
I quit drinking years ago and this was my fear as well but I have found as long as I am upfront about it and people realize that it’s a personal decision and not me trying to get on a pedestal and preach sobriety that things are fine. People who get weird about it tend to be bells anyway.
most people were fine about me not drinking - I didn’t really face the “oh just go on” reaction, but I was quite open about my reasons for stopping. I’ve had pals who’ve been tee-total for religious reasons who’ve never really had the pressure either. But the one woman I know who just chooses not to because she doesn’t like the prospect and has never had more than a glass of wine in her life, she gets it badly from people. “How do you know you won’t like it if you’ve never tried it?” Now she just lies. Also people love to make dramatic assumptions about addiction and trauma when the truth is often really boring.
What changed for me was more that I just couldn’t be bothered when I was sober and everyone else was drinking, if it wasn’t for me. A night in a crap nightclub or a flat with twenty people trying to cop off can still be fun if you’re tipsy and carrying on, but when you’re sat sober watching your pals chat each other up while listening to terrible indie music, it’s joyless, and I quickly found myself “unavailable” to join in with stuff that wasn’t fun. I didn’t want to waste time and money to be somewhere I wasn’t enjoying.
A decade on I can go dancing, end up at an afters until the sun rises, and be sober and have a great time, because the company I keep is much more aligned with my values and tastes, and not just random people from school and uni classes. So if you’re worried about going it alone I would say: it might cull your social circle a bit, but long-term it’s definitely worth it because those people shouldn’t really be so central in your orbit anyway.
Never been a massive drinker, enjoy the odd cold lager in the summer but that’s about it. Suffer from terrible hangovers (which have got worse as the years tick by) and migraines and since March 19 hardly drank anything. Fizzy water and orange juice - or iced green tea does the job for me. Not having much of a social circle also helps! Got a cupboard full of single malts that I’ve been gifted over the years.
but seemed fruity and tasty
