Who the hell drinks non-alcoholic lager - Bush does!

C'mon let's analyse what George had for lunch to an obsessive degree.
You know you want to!

BUSH'S PUB LUNCH
Cream of potato and leek soup
Fish and chips with mushy peas
Lemon creme brulee
Drinks: Non-alcoholic lager for Mr Bush, soft drinks for Mrs Bush and the Blairs

(from the BBC)

Seriously, folks. Who drinks non-alcoholic lager.

n/t

it's a fairly big item, and getting bigger.

To paraphrase Gertrude Stein, there's no there there.

The non-alcoholic brews have improved in the past few years.
I prefer alcohol-free Hefeweizen though.

I think O'Douls was the only option last time I tried it.

Edit: To be fair and balanced, I'll say it's cool to drink it unless you're Bush.

I doubt that you can get them... (these are the brands I can recommend).

I've had the Paulaner...not bad. A tad bitter. Much like Warsteiner Fresh.

I like Beck's NA; tastes very "normal." Kaliber is Guiness' offering, and it actually has quite a bit of body and a pretty thick head. It even has a nice darkish amber color.

Just like their alcohol counterparts, any NA made by the America breweries is just plain piss water. Not a one is worth trying, although Coors NA is so flavorless and watery it almost tastes like a Corona.

The St. Pauli and Beck bottles look almost identical to their normal versions, and more than once I've had people take them from the fridge at parties and drink one down without ever realizing what they were drinking!

Bitburger NA is very good - Bush had a good taste (and a Reagan reference for free).


Can’t agree with Beck's NA though - can't stand the stuff.

As for Beck's: I have problems with any company manhandling the German language by using an apostrophe. And the saying : "Becks schmeckt immer so, wie man sich fühlt- also meistens Scheiße" - " Beck's tastes always like how one feels - in the majority of cases like shit" has a ring of truth to me.

with O'Doul's the one that is most often available. If oyu live real far from upstate New York, you migh tnot be able to get either Molson or Genny.

I jump in on the Non-Alcoholic beer threads every time, because the experts out there love to remind those of us who are alcoholics that we aren't supposed to drink this as it leads to inevitable real beer drinking and eventual ruin. It doesn't -- I've been sober for almost 20 years now, and have one or two non-alcoholic beers every couple of weeks -- but these threads allow the know-it-alls to give a lecture, which pleases them somehow. Whatever makes people happy, I guess!

I don't drink because alcohol gives me instant migraines; no party, just PAIN.

When I realized drinking was another thing I just couldn't do (almost 30 years ago), the only thing I missed was beer. I used to drink one called Birrell, and it wasn't too bad, better than O'Doul's, at least. I haven't seen it in years, though, and I don't know if it's still out there.

Since I'm usually in the nondrinking part of the crowd at any party, I've gotten to know a lot of sober alcoholics, and nearly all of them drink non alcoholic beer without any trouble or triggered cravings at all. The one or two who did experience cravings simply avoided near beer along with the real stuff.

n/t

is one of my favorites. Genny Light is my favorite light. And when I can get my hands on it, GENNY 12 HORSE!

I am not an alcoholic (although I've had many bad drunks). I don't drink anymore because of recurring major depression. I do miss beer and get tired of ordering soda after soda when I go out, so I'll try a couple of these.

But doesn't AA advises against drinking non-alcoholic beer if you're on the wagon? I seem to remeber that they claim it can lead to relapse.

They claim having the bottle in your hand, or the glass full of that glorious nectar, will make you flashback to your drinking days and all the rush of good memories (from drinking?) will cause you to want to get back into it.

Of course, there are other theories.

If you research it, you'll find that AA works no better than any other method of stopping drinking. Some need the support group. Some do fine on their own. Some do great with groupls like SOS, which helps you learn to take responsibility for your own actions and not cop out by claiming you are "powerless."

Statistically, any way you choose to stop, choosing to stop is really all that matters. Before you choose to stop, nothing on this earth can get you to stop, short of being locked away from it.

I stopped because I changed my whole way of life, spiritually and in just about every other way. I realized, I don't eat red meat because of health reasons. I don't smoke because of health reason. Why the hell am I drinking? Didn't make sense.

So, an NA beer is a great alternative to some people, and they can be really good on a hot day mowing the lawn, when you want the refreshment but not the drunk.

And NA beer is about half a percent alcohol.

I guess you could relapse off NA beer; I had a guy in the 110th who would relapse from looking at a beer ad in a magazine or a beer commercial on television. Really. This guy watched no television, read Christian magazines to find movies he could watch (you try to find a movie that contains no alcohol use!), read very few popular magazines. He liked to relax by reading Army field manuals--no mention of beer in those! He had a broad assortment of FMs; his favorites were the infantry-tactics ones.

Needless to say, "do not assign to any unit in Europe" was in his personnel records.

Strangely enough, he could see beer in the store without going into relapse. He could see his roommate's beer in the refrigerator without going into relapse, just so long as his roommate took the beer to someone else's room to drink it. But let him get a visual of someone drinking beer and...oh man, this dude was one violent drunk!

http://www.erowid.org/chemicals/alcohol/alcohol_info1.shtml

So he IS drinking....

So the Ohio government was going to ban NA sales to minors. You are right, though--Bush is drinking again and he should have known better!

an "open container" of non alcoholic beer in a vehicle in California.

The "danger" is due to other reasons.

Did you get that term out of a medical text book?

the dictionary.
However I've changed it well before your reply.


Edit:
Sorry, I know it sounded wrong. Please accept my apology.

The topic -- alcoholism -- is one of the few areas here on DU that I know I'm qualified to speak authoritatively about! :-)

It's like sex without the money shot.

Why bother...

have an allergy to alcohol.

So they have non alcoholic stuff.

Why is this a problem?

is to drink alcohol.

eom...

I just see it as pointless.

You have an allergy to it, then drink coke...

I have high triglycerides and my doc tells me that alcohol helps to increase those.

I love beer...so during the weekdays, I drink non-alcoholic brew and during the weekends I get the real thing. There are some pretty good NA brews out there (not O'Douls!).

Personally, I drink to get drunk, or at least tipsy. The taste is pretty mediocre otherwise.

If you want a buzz and taste, try Kentucky Bourbons like Knob Creek, Blanton's, Woodford Reserve, Basil Hayden's, or if money is short, Maker's Mark.

I am sure the Canadians know how to make a tasty beers.

Stick with Belgiums, Belgium knock-offs, Guinness, and Newcastle:)

Newcastle rocks....I'm going to pop one as soon as I post this message!

My friend and I served her teetotaler mother some non-alcholic champagne one Thanksgiving. After a bit, she asked, Are you SURE there's no alcohol in this? Indeed, there was a little - not much, but she could feel it.

That stuff is like green, grainy vomit. Had it once in Ireland. Never again. Might explain why the Irish are so pugnacious.

I like beer, but I'm on the road a lot. Depending on the situation, I might have a real one or two, but when it gets closer to drive time, I go with the phony stuff, or something else.

Another thing-- I spent a lot of years falling off barstools and killing braincells while keeping the economy of Scotland afloat, and I just don't like being shitfaced, or facing hangovers. A buzz is OK, but plastered is history. Now that I drink very little, it's a lot easier (and cheaper) to get a buzz.

Mainly, though, I just don't want to deal with being pulled over.

but I was actually talking about drinking Scotch in our local ginmills. I realize that wasn't exactly clear.

Prices of "a wee dram" in Scottish pubs being what they are, I did do a fair amount of beer drinking over there. Found some excellent pubs in Edinburgh and Inverness (off-season, of course) but some of the less touristy places were a bit, ummm..., less friendly.

There was one in Kyle of Localsh with a huge "No Football Colors Allowed" sign by the door. The bar was OK, but I decided not to bother the guys in the back staring darkly at everyone who walked in.

Didn't spend a lot of time there. :o

But the rest sounds pretty good... or at least interesting.


Of course, I don't drink non-alcoholic beer. But, I imagine they probably have some very good non-alcoholic beer over there.

But, if Tony Blair had a soft drink, why didn't Bush just have that?

Or, did Blair want beer, but Bush ordered him to have a soft drink???
We all know Blair's track record for standing up to Bush...

I come from Non-Alcoholic lager is viewed with DEEP suspicion, particularly among alcoholics trying to stay away from the stuff.

To me, beer is not beer without the 3-5% alcohol. But that is because I have not had good experiences with non-alcoholic beers.

But I learned in this thread about a few interesting ones to try!

Non alcoholic Beer does have alcohol in it .

It is still feeding the monkey .

Anyone who is a recovering Alcoholic will tell you this .

Holy Crap ...

I need a link of this to send my dad .

in Britain?? The English, Scots and Irish are very proud of their own brew and shit head's choice certainly cancels out the fact that this was an "authentic" British pub lunch. (emphasis on pub)

NO CLASS!!! :evilfrown:

but the German Bitberger Drive is great. Like so many others, I am recovering alcoholic, but periodically still like to have one of those. I wouldn't suggest it for people in very early recovery though.

is a joke and a half. If you don't want to feel the affects of the alcohol, there is a such thing as moderation. IMHO the Reinheitsgebot purity law should be applied wherever beer is made.

Anyway, it's infrequent that I do it but it works for me - 18 years sober.