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Haven’t had a drop in fourteen years after being a weekend binge drinker. I don’t begrudge the substance, but it has been transformative being this far removed

Haven’t had a drop in fourteen years after being a weekend binge drinker. I don’t begrudge the substance, but it has been transformative being this far removed from it. The downside? Dear god have I missed the taste of beer. La Croix and other products don’t fill the gap. There has thankfully been an explosion in the NA craft beer scene in the last few years, and some of them are good enough that I’ve had friends who drink buy them so they don’t have to have a buzz to enjoy the taste. I’d recommend Athletic Brewing and WellBeing for a first go. The IPAs in particular hold up well. Edit: Fun thing I've had happen: I got pulled over speeding with an "open container" of one of these beers. The cop became immensely excited when she thought she'd get me for a DUI, demands to see it, I point out it's an NA, she inspects it, and this is followed by silence and disappointment. "Sir, you should probably not drink this while driving regardless".

cheeze 5y ago
Highly recommend checking out hop tea/hop seltzers. Lagunitas makes a good one with distro across the nation. Stillwater makes some (alcoholic) seltzers with dry hopping as well that I'm a huge fan of. Those have been my favorite advancements in terms of lighter options
- hesdeadjim 5y ago
  Yea, Athletic Brewing also does a hop fizzy water called Daypack which are good as well.
kelnos 5y ago
> he cop became immensely excited when she thought she'd get me for a DUI That alone is pretty messed up. A cop should be annoyed and disappointed to be in that situation. Arresting and booking someone should be a big hassle that they shouldn't want. And let's say you had been drinking alcohol; who knows how long you might have been drinking before you got pulled over... who knows who you might have killed. And a cop is reacting with happiness that they might have gotten you on a DUI? Gross.
- minikites 5y ago
  Modern policing attracts exactly these sorts of individuals, which is why the current incarnation of the police should be abolished and a new system created from scratch. The combination of their attitudes and their immunity from all consequences necessarily leads to minor abuses like the parent comment describes and major abuses like the extrajudicial murder of innocent citizens.
- AnIdiotOnTheNet 5y ago
  Your narrative still makes it seem not unreasonable for the cop to be happy. After all, arresting a drunk driver before they manage to kill someone is the kind of goal that should motivate cops to get out of bed in the morning. I'd personally rather have them excited to take an intoxicated driver off the street than letting them go because the paper work is a hassle.
  - minikites 5y ago
    Real cops are not like the cops on TV. If their motivation truly was to help people, they would have a different job. People who want to be cops these days want power over other people.
robrenaud 5y ago
There is still a small amount of alcohol in those n/a beers. Athletic brewing co is amazing though, especially the coffee porter.
- hesdeadjim 5y ago
  Yea, but the alcohol level is on par with a bottle of Kombucha most of the time. You'd have to drink a ten pack to maybe even get the same feeling you'd get from a single 5% beer. There is perhaps a danger to someone attempting sobriety, from the psychological response to the taste. It'd been twelve years for me when I had my first NA, and I had to take a real hard look at my near-overwhelming OMG YES feeling. Thankfully I just love the taste and am not secretly wishing for a real one.
elliekelly 5y ago
When I was in Amsterdam just before Covid I went to the Heineken factory and they gave us samples of their Heineken 0.0 which is brewed entirely without alcohol rather than the usual “non-alcoholic” beer approach of brewing it and then removing the alcohol. It was surprisingly good! Unless you do a side by side comparison of the regular and the 0.0 I doubt you’d ever know. Tangentially related, I wish I could remember the name of the Dutch tech company that created the “experience” (and have done several others throughout Europe & the US) because they’re really cool and did a great job.
- gmac 5y ago
  "Tastes as good as regular Heineken" is not exactly high praise. :)
  - kjax 5y ago
    Heineken's domestic formula differs from the export formula (primarily due to the amount of hops added to the export formula, IIRC), which is covered on the tour. The domestic Heineken really is much better than the stuff we get in North America.
    - akvadrako 5y ago
      I live in Amsterdam and almost everybody I know considers Heineken only tolerable - it's the Bud Light of the region. Personally I think Heineken 0% is better than the normal pils.
  - cat199 5y ago
    Much of the problem with many skunky lagers lacking taste is storing them in bottles that don't block UV (green, for example) for extended periods of time. Not saying it's exemplary, but freshness is probably a factor sometimes
- hesdeadjim 5y ago
  Personal preference and all that, but if Heineken 0.0 had been my first NA beer I would have never bought another after. It's why I push so hard on the craft brew brands, they bring real taste.
mritchie712 5y ago
Same here, quitting changed my life. I started https://stopping.app/ https://stopping.app/ to make it easier to quit
- jasondigitized 5y ago
  Love this. Quitting changed mine as well and I always thought there were a few ways I could give back. Would love to swap ideas some time. Love the concept.
- hesdeadjim 5y ago
  That's great. I think there is opportunity to create a white-brand business providing similar functionality to treatment centers and IOPs. Happy to talk about it if you like, I have quite a large network in that industry and advise a small IOP that would probably be willing to test something like that.

cheeze 5y ago

Highly recommend checking out hop tea/hop seltzers. Lagunitas makes a good one with distro across the nation. Stillwater makes some (alcoholic) seltzers with dry hopping as well that I'm a huge fan of. Those have been my favorite advancements in terms of lighter options

hesdeadjim 5y ago
Yea, Athletic Brewing also does a hop fizzy water called Daypack which are good as well.

kelnos 5y ago

> he cop became immensely excited when she thought she'd get me for a DUI That alone is pretty messed up. A cop should be annoyed and disappointed to be in that situation. Arresting and booking someone should be a big hassle that they shouldn't want. And let's say you had been drinking alcohol; who knows how long you might have been drinking before you got pulled over... who knows who you might have killed. And a cop is reacting with happiness that they might have gotten you on a DUI? Gross.

minikites 5y ago
Modern policing attracts exactly these sorts of individuals, which is why the current incarnation of the police should be abolished and a new system created from scratch. The combination of their attitudes and their immunity from all consequences necessarily leads to minor abuses like the parent comment describes and major abuses like the extrajudicial murder of innocent citizens.
AnIdiotOnTheNet 5y ago
Your narrative still makes it seem not unreasonable for the cop to be happy. After all, arresting a drunk driver before they manage to kill someone is the kind of goal that should motivate cops to get out of bed in the morning. I'd personally rather have them excited to take an intoxicated driver off the street than letting them go because the paper work is a hassle.
- minikites 5y ago
  Real cops are not like the cops on TV. If their motivation truly was to help people, they would have a different job. People who want to be cops these days want power over other people.

robrenaud 5y ago

There is still a small amount of alcohol in those n/a beers. Athletic brewing co is amazing though, especially the coffee porter.

hesdeadjim 5y ago
Yea, but the alcohol level is on par with a bottle of Kombucha most of the time. You'd have to drink a ten pack to maybe even get the same feeling you'd get from a single 5% beer. There is perhaps a danger to someone attempting sobriety, from the psychological response to the taste. It'd been twelve years for me when I had my first NA, and I had to take a real hard look at my near-overwhelming OMG YES feeling. Thankfully I just love the taste and am not secretly wishing for a real one.

elliekelly 5y ago

When I was in Amsterdam just before Covid I went to the Heineken factory and they gave us samples of their Heineken 0.0 which is brewed entirely without alcohol rather than the usual “non-alcoholic” beer approach of brewing it and then removing the alcohol. It was surprisingly good! Unless you do a side by side comparison of the regular and the 0.0 I doubt you’d ever know. Tangentially related, I wish I could remember the name of the Dutch tech company that created the “experience” (and have done several others throughout Europe & the US) because they’re really cool and did a great job.

gmac 5y ago
"Tastes as good as regular Heineken" is not exactly high praise. :)
- kjax 5y ago
  Heineken's domestic formula differs from the export formula (primarily due to the amount of hops added to the export formula, IIRC), which is covered on the tour. The domestic Heineken really is much better than the stuff we get in North America.
  - akvadrako 5y ago
    I live in Amsterdam and almost everybody I know considers Heineken only tolerable - it's the Bud Light of the region. Personally I think Heineken 0% is better than the normal pils.
- cat199 5y ago
  Much of the problem with many skunky lagers lacking taste is storing them in bottles that don't block UV (green, for example) for extended periods of time. Not saying it's exemplary, but freshness is probably a factor sometimes
hesdeadjim 5y ago
Personal preference and all that, but if Heineken 0.0 had been my first NA beer I would have never bought another after. It's why I push so hard on the craft brew brands, they bring real taste.

mritchie712 5y ago

Same here, quitting changed my life. I started https://stopping.app/ https://stopping.app/ to make it easier to quit

jasondigitized 5y ago
Love this. Quitting changed mine as well and I always thought there were a few ways I could give back. Would love to swap ideas some time. Love the concept.
hesdeadjim 5y ago
That's great. I think there is opportunity to create a white-brand business providing similar functionality to treatment centers and IOPs. Happy to talk about it if you like, I have quite a large network in that industry and advise a small IOP that would probably be willing to test something like that.