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navigating the dry waters of NA beers and liquors (for recs, reviews, whatever)

EatLeadCommie said:
What's the setting? I mean, I'd think a pretty good segment of NA drinkers are people who still want to retain a bar-like social circle without getting shitfaced, the latter part being a pretty big caveat.

Also, I'll add that the discovery of non-shitty tasting NA beers is a pretty big deal to people who have been drinking for years and whose impression of NA beer is "the O'Doul's shit". I for one am elated to find viable NA beers. And not just viable, but good. I really only jumped on this train to help the Missus quit, but am finding it great that I can drink as much as I want, (theoretically) whenever I want, and not worry about how many I have or the way I feel next day. I am getting the same psychological effect drinking one of these at the end of the day as I get when I grabbed the real deal. I am also beyond the age where I feel I need it to socialize or sing karaoke or something like that.

That's certainly not going to be the case for everybody. I'm fortunate in that I enjoy alcohol more than I'm a slave to it. But there are a lot of folks out there in the same boat as me (and may not realize it), and I hope they try the NA thing not because I'm a teetotaler, but because of the improved quality of life and probable extension of it.
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Great post!
 
EatLeadCommie said:
What's the setting? I mean, I'd think a pretty good segment of NA drinkers are people who still want to retain a bar-like social circle without getting shitfaced, the latter part being a pretty big caveat.

Also, I'll add that the discovery of non-shitty tasting NA beers is a pretty big deal to people who have been drinking for years and whose impression of NA beer is "the O'Doul's shit". I for one am elated to find viable NA beers. And not just viable, but good. I really only jumped on this train to help the Missus quit, but am finding it great that I can drink as much as I want, (theoretically) whenever I want, and not worry about how many I have or the way I feel next day. I am getting the same psychological effect drinking one of these at the end of the day as I get when I grabbed the real deal. I am also beyond the age where I feel I need it to socialize or sing karaoke or something like that.

That's certainly not going to be the case for everybody. I'm fortunate in that I enjoy alcohol more than I'm a slave to it. But there are a lot of folks out there in the same boat as me (and may not realize it), and I hope they try the NA thing not because I'm a teetotaler, but because of the improved quality of life and probable extension of it.
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i'm happy for anyone that chooses not to drink or reduce their drinking -- I go the NA route, or more frequently the seltzer water route, when I don't want to drink

I'm just giving a light ribbing to the folks that can't just go about the event and just drink the NA beer without pointing out to everyone that it is, in fact, an NA beer

as lbe pointed out, it has some similar patterns to the crossfit/vegan/cold plunge/etc. crowd that really need you know what healthy lifestyle thing they are doing
 
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I mean is it that much different than regular beer drinkers? Dudes that talk about IPAs? Maybe I’m old and not in social settings where this would happen, but I haven’t encountered the NA drinker that over shares.
 
JuiceCrewAllStar said:
i'm happy for anyone that chooses not to drink or reduce their drinking -- I go the NA route, or more frequently the seltzer water route, when I don't want to drink

I'm just giving a light ribbing to the folks that can't just go about the event and just drink the NA beer without pointing out to everyone that it is, in fact, an NA beer

as lbe pointed out, it has some similar patterns to the crossfit/vegan/cold plunge/etc. crowd that really need you know what healthy lifestyle thing they are doing
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On the day I post on the CT about my COLD PLUNGE. I feel called out 👀
 
MHBDemon said:
I mean is it that much different than regular beer drinkers? Dudes that talk about IPAs? Maybe I’m old and not in social settings where this would happen, but I haven’t encountered the NA drinker that over shares.
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Yeah this is how it usually goes in my friend group(s). The standard conversation about "what'd you get?" at the brewery/gathering followed by some peeps explaining their beer or wine choice and others saying that got an NA beer because they are tired/hungover or taking a break for a week or something.
 
yeah, and I should have added a /s to my "it's vegan beer" comment.
I'm definitely more like ELC in that I've been drinking and enjoying Oregon beer culture so much for over a decade and have reached a point where I just... don't want to drink that much alcohol. Having real options that don't taste like butt is pretty exciting, and because it seems to be a relatively emergent area it's great to trade notes with other folks trying many of them.

...that all said, I'm enjoying a Buoy IPA right now and really enjoying it.
 
JuiceCrewAllStar said:
i'm happy for anyone that chooses not to drink or reduce their drinking -- I go the NA route, or more frequently the seltzer water route, when I don't want to drink

I'm just giving a light ribbing to the folks that can't just go about the event and just drink the NA beer without pointing out to everyone that it is, in fact, an NA beer

as lbe pointed out, it has some similar patterns to the crossfit/vegan/cold plunge/etc. crowd that really need you know what healthy lifestyle thing they are doing
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So you’re READING the CT but just not joining any longer? WHY
 
I have a friend who quit drinking alcohol for a year or so and just drank club soda with a bunch of fresh limes and took edibles. You people should try that too.
 
Was at my local bottle shop yesterday and talking NA beers with the stockers - they had lots of thoughts and were able to explain that the Untitled Art stuff is so expensive because it's actually a brewed beer that they then take a step further to distill out the alcohol. This is what allows it to actually taste like beer, as opposed to other options (looking at you, The Athletic) that taste like barley tea.
 
lbE08 said:
Was at my local bottle shop yesterday and talking NA beers with the stockers - they had lots of thoughts and were able to explain that the Untitled Art stuff is so expensive because it's actually a brewed beer that they then take a step further to distill out the alcohol. This is what allows it to actually taste like beer, as opposed to other options (looking at you, The Athletic) that taste like barley tea.
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Except that when they make up all the costs associated with the more expensive process, they won't be lowering their prices. They aren't unique in their process-- just unique in their prices. But what I had was very good, so I'm sure there's plenty of incentive to buy them.
 
EatLeadCommie said:
Except that when they make up all the costs associated with the more expensive process, they won't be lowering their prices.
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because they aren’t one time costs, every drink that goes through that process will be more expensive to produce. It’s not like they are amortizing production equipment.
 
EatLeadCommie said:
Except that when they make up all the costs associated with the more expensive process, they won't be lowering their prices. They aren't unique in their process-- just unique in their prices. But what I had was very good, so I'm sure there's plenty of incentive to buy them.
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I mean, I feel like I just explained how they are unique in their process. Perhaps if more brands start doing that there will be an element of market competition bringing things down, but at this point why would they charge less for a more involved process?
 
But they aren't unique in their process as near as I can tell. They use a filtration process that others use. Yes, it means expensive equipment, but that's part of brewing. Their regular beers are pricey to begin with, so it stands to reason that their NA beers will also be pricey. They cater to well-heeled beer drinkers.
 
I don't think that many brewers that mass-distribute NA options are investing in the reverse osmosis process for dealcoholisation (even if they use it for their brewing water) as much as they're more perfecting their halted fermentation or doing vacuum distillation... so yeah, they already have a craft product, and then they subject it to yet another step using expensive equipment to produce a better end product.
 
Going to have my first go at NA beer today. Doing some pool time so shall see how I enjoy it.

Heading to a conference in Vegas in June. Anyone have experience on if Vegas spots (the usual spots on the strip) have NA beer options now?
 
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