[Herminator]

The me, the issue is self control.  Can you walk away from a beer?  Do you feel you need to have a beer every day?  Do you take days off from drinking during the week?

Good points.  I think about those questions often.  I often times will not drink during the weekdays and then have a few on the weekend.  I think maintaining a sense of self control is important.  I also think of asking yourself "why am I drinking a beer?" is important.  I think for me, session beers may have a benefit in that when I do decide to have a beer on Saturday night, I might have some options under 6-7% which is not the case with my current pipeline.  Again, great article. 

[denny]

good point on the more of less.

Can you walk away from a beer?  Do you feel you need to have a beer every day?  Do you take days off from drinking during the week?

I never pour a beer I don't intend to drink, so i may not follow there.  But I'm also not afraid to dump something that I don't enjoy though either, which is usually more the case of some weirdo Cigar City Cucumber Mango yada yada treated style.

rare that I ever feel I *need* a beer, but I do admit for me beer is a habit/routine.  Like many folks here, I am a big foodie, love to cook, and having pints while I cook is sort of harmonious in a way.  funny thing is i often switch to water by the time i actually eat.

I do usually take days off several days a week - nothing set in stone, but mostly i only drink beers on the weekends nowadays, with an occasional Wednesday here or there if I feel like it or a friend stops over.  Travelling for work and dinners out for work often change that however - the former if I go to a place with beers I can't get here or the latter because of social custom.

Paul, what I meant was "decide to not drink a beer".  Sounds like you do that.

[Pinski]

Everything in moderation.  Sounds simplistic but it works for me.

[beersk]

To me, it's not just about brewing lower alcohol beers.  Being pre diabetic, I'm extremely concerned about carbs.  so if I brew lower alcohol beers, I may tend to drink more of them than I should.  The me, the issue is self control.  Can you walk away from a beer?  Do you feel you need to have a beer every day?  Do you take days off from drinking during the week?

It really is about self control. But I think the more important issue is drinking responsibly. Know when not to drink that 3rd or 4th beer. I do almost all of my drinking at home, so I don't make any rules about it and I rarely go a day with out a beer or 2. I don't think beer every day has to be a bad thing. What about coffee? What about food? Are you eating lots of sugar? Fried food? Bread?

Just because someone says you shouldn't, doesn't mean you shouldn't. There's lots of stuff that's bad for us, and everything will kill us. I think as long as you're not getting f*cked up on a regular basis, exercising, and not overeating every meal, you're probably okay to have 2 or 3 beers a day.

[morticaixavier]

There is an attitude in America in particular that if you drink everyday you are flirting with alcoholism. I've been involved with enough alcoholics to know that you can be an alcoholic and not drink every day and you can absolutely drink every day and not be an alcoholic. Heck, I've known alcoholics that don't drink at all and I STILL wouldn't trust them further than I could throw them for all the same reasons I won't trust a drinking alcoholic.

setting "I take a day (or couple days, or weekdays) off" as the metric of whether you have a drinking problem can be a problem in and of itself. If you then have a bunch on weekend days you may well be doing more damage to your body than had you had the same amount of beer spread over the whole week.

You may also be allowing yourself to ignore a potentially serious, life altering, problem with alcohol go untreated because "Hey, I take a couple days off every week!"

If you only drink on the weekends but it is destroying your liver and making your spouse want to run far far away you have a drinking problem.

If you drink a beer with dinner every night without fail, unless there just simply isn't one available. but your family and loved ones can count on you, you are not destroying any part of your body faster than it is capable of renewing itself, and your life is not negatively affected by your nightly beer than it's hard for me to point at you and say "That is someone with a drinking problem".

The message I took away from the article was that, particularly if you are "in the industry" and/or you are a "connoisseur" you should be extra aware of how your drinking habits are affecting your life.


Given the increasingly well documented health benefits of moderate regular alcohol consumption it becomes even grayer. Am I drinking every day because it's good for my heart? Should I worry I have a drinking problem?  or am I just relaxing after a hard 12 hour day with a mild natural muscle relaxant that i made myself? (RDWHAHB).

I appreciate his message as I see it and I can only imagine how hard it is when you are "in the industry" to monitor your behavior around alcohol and still meet all the real and perceived social demands that so often revolve around alcohol in that sector of society. Much like working in the bar/restaurant industry or even the entertainment industry.

Of course, if you are trying to reduce your total caloric intake, or your carb intake the beer is almost certainly the second best thing to remove from your diet, right after processed sugars (Candy, Cake, Soda, and Juice type stuff)

This is all my opinion and is not informed by any sort of medical or psychological training and should be taken with appropriate weight.

[Joe Sr.]

I have a severely alcoholic brother, he's lived with family members for the past 2 years because he is drunk by breakfast and can't hold a job, wife, apartment, etc.  He had a wreck back in December that killed our mother, but he's such a professional drunk he was not even tested for sobriety at the crash scene.  That allows him to be guiltless, but we all know the truth, there's no way a sober person could have possibly had that wreck.  Anyway, that has also caused me to cut my drinking even more, which sucks because I love brewing so much and the bee is starting to pile up.  I do 95% of my drinking at home so drunk driving hasn't been an issue for me for many years, but still I think of my brother and the joy of beer fades.  BTW he drinks Busch Classic 16 oz. cans, hidden like Easter eggs in my Dad's lower yard.

This is one of the more disturbing things I've read recently.  I am truly sorry for your loss.  It sounds like it would be devastating.  Hopefully, your family can find a way to heal but that sounds like a long and tortured road from how you describe your brother.

[beersk]

Great response, Jonathan. It's a bit of an alarmist article just as the attitude towards alcohol in the US. I can't stand it, actually. People put beer and alcohol on a pedestal. People drink enough coffee that it's damaging to kidneys and blood pressure. People eat enough food so as to gain weight and get the diabeeets.
Take care of your body and you can have beers every day. Knowing when to stop is a good starting point.

[morticaixavier]

I have a severely alcoholic brother, he's lived with family members for the past 2 years because he is drunk by breakfast and can't hold a job, wife, apartment, etc.  He had a wreck back in December that killed our mother, but he's such a professional drunk he was not even tested for sobriety at the crash scene.  That allows him to be guiltless, but we all know the truth, there's no way a sober person could have possibly had that wreck.  Anyway, that has also caused me to cut my drinking even more, which sucks because I love brewing so much and the bee is starting to pile up.  I do 95% of my drinking at home so drunk driving hasn't been an issue for me for many years, but still I think of my brother and the joy of beer fades.  BTW he drinks Busch Classic 16 oz. cans, hidden like Easter eggs in my Dad's lower yard.

Corky, I'm so sorry to hear about this. I can only imagine how hard that would be to deal with. I can't think of anything else to say to that except that I feel for you.

[morticaixavier]

Great response, Jonathan. It's a bit of an alarmist article just as the attitude towards alcohol in the US. I can't stand it, actually. People put beer and alcohol on a pedestal. People drink enough coffee that it's damaging to kidneys and blood pressure. People eat enough food so as to gain weight and get the diabeeets.
Take care of your body and you can have beers every day. Knowing when to stop is a good starting point.

I think the article, if taken in the right way, is really helpful in that it reminds us to be mindful about how mindless we get. Why are you drinking? because you're thirsty? Really enjoy the taste? Really enjoy the buzz? trying to turn off your brain? because it makes you feel sexier/ more confient? Just because everyone else is?

None of these reasons in and of themselves are 'bad' or 'good' but to be aware of your own reasoning is the first step to being mindful about your drinking.

By the way, I've recently cut back on my coffee intake significantly because I realized I was drinking a second big cup every day even though I wasn't tired and it wasn't even particularly good coffee. I was drinking it because, well that's what I had 'always done'. I hope my kidneys thank me!

[beersk]

Good points, Jonathan. I recently stopped drinking coffee during the week. I guess I'm a caffeholic since I'm only drinking it on weekends, huh? But seriously, I stopped drinking it because it simply hasn't been tasting that good to me lately and it's upsetting my stomach occasionally. Besides, I never need it. I bike to work everyday and that wakes me up plenty fine. To drink coffee in the morning just to feel normal...that's not good either. That's almost as bad as having a couple beers or shots just to feel normal. But, sometimes, a beer is just daaaamn good and relaxes you so nicely. I KNOW I'm not the only one on here that feels that way.
Yes, having a couple beers at night is something of a habit for me or routine. I really like having a beer while I cook. I have been trying to not have the 3rd pint though. Once it gets to be 9 or 10pm and I've had a couple already. Sometimes I really really want that 3rd beer, but usually talk myself out of it. Back when I first started brewing, it was all bets off most nights.
I think we all go through phases and that's cool. Keeping it in check is a good thing, you appreciate it more. But I also don't feel 2 or 3 a day is bad.

[Joe Sr.]

By the way, I've recently cut back on my coffee intake significantly because I realized I was drinking a second big cup every day even though I wasn't tired and it wasn't even particularly good coffee. I was drinking it because, well that's what I had 'always done'. I hope my kidneys thank me!

Two cups.  Every morning.  If I have three, I freak out.  Three cups on Saturday is tempting, but it always ends badly.

I gave up soda years ago after I realized the afternoon can of Coke was causing me to freak out and get jittery.  I think it was more the sugar, though, than the caffeine.  I can drink coffee at night and go to sleep.  I could never do that with soda.

Bringing it back to topic, I have given up alcohol for Lent every so often.  I am always amazed at the weight loss.  Empty calories, indeed.

[udubdawg]

Good points, Jonathan. I recently stopped drinking coffee during the week. I guess I'm a caffeholic since I'm

"Hi, I'm Michael, and caffeineholic.  It's been 6 hours since my last Diet Dr Pepper."

wow, feels good to share. 

[majorvices]

The article makes a good point about festivals: I loved festivals at first. Now I dread them (or at least some of them). It's amazing how drunk people can get off 2 oz pours. Not sure festivals really do anything for any beer brands except make the people who organize it some money and make a bunch of dangerous drivers get behind the wheel of a car.

OTOH I don't understand the stigma against "needing a beer". There are times when I "need a beer" like after a long hot days work, other times when I "need a whiskey" like having to spend the afternoon with my mother in law. I need a glass a milk with my peanut butter and jelly sandwich and I need a cup of coffee in the mornings. I don't think there is anything wrong with "needing a beer". I have a meeting with my partners tonight and I'll probably "need a beer" afterwards (or during!).

[Pinski]

I don't think it's a problem to injest anything based on how it makes you feel. If we can define normal perhaps I'll re-evaluate. It's a problem when people are not able or willing to moderate a behavior.  Doesn't matter if it's alcohol or caffeine or tabacco or television.  Some things bring with them greater risks and consequences to ourselves and others. If you don't have the self awareness and control to realize that your behavior is harming yourself or negatively affecting those around you, you are a problem.

[euge]

Our cultural mores haven't supported daily drinking since the early 20th Century and the Teetotaler movement. I say if you hang out in a tattoo parlor you are going to get a haircut. SO getting into alcohol sales and then moaning about the deleterious effects makes one sound a little self-righteous and unconvincing.

That being said I have a difficult time tolerating drunken behavior, especially among my friends.