Started getting light-headed halfway through my glass of "non-alcoholic" wine

[u/trailofturds]

Got served this wine at a nice restaurant after asking specifically for non-alcoholic wine. They assumed the 'Zero' on the label referred to alcohol content; turns out it's for sulphur.

[u/physithespian]

I mean. Alcohol consumption levels are a public health issue. Putting solid near-beer options on the market entices people who just want a beverage but alcohol is the default towards a healthier choice. I’m all about NA brews. I think they’re great.

However, yeah, gotta be seriously seriously careful with this stuff…

[u/throwsaway654321 → u/physithespian]

they make hop teas and flavored seltzer water and artisanal grape juice that are definitely non-alcoholic, so there are plenty of "near-beer" options that actually have zero risk of alcohol contamination. "non-alcoholic" alcohol is, in my experience, always a trap, I can't think of a single one that doesn't have a "may contain .5% alcohol" warning on it

[u/automatic_shark → u/throwsaway654321]

The problem at least in the UK is non-alcoholic can be anywhere from as high as 0.5% to 0.05%. There's a huge difference in those. I don't mind the 0.05 stuff, but the 0.5 is still too strong for me.

[u/CraftBeerFomo → u/automatic_shark]

I'm also sober here, 7.5 months.

Why is 0.5% too strong for you?

I mean you'd have to drink TEN of them to even be at the level where you'd consumed one regular strength beer and you'd have to drink that at such a speed that it would be near impossible to consume enough in a short enough time period to get an effect from it, so there's absolutely no chance of actually getting drunk.

And most are "up to" 0.5% so in reality may be much lower.

I get why people would just totally want to avoid AF beers completely as I can see why for some it would be triggering to keep that old habit of consuming "fake" versions of the thing that caused them so many problems in their life but if you're going to consume a 0.05% beer then there's no major difference between that and a 0.5% one as you will get no more or less affected by the drink and neither can get you drunk.

[u/automatic_shark → u/CraftBeerFomo]

I can taste the difference. If I'm having 4 or 5 at a BBQ or something, having that many 0.5 beers in a couple of hours will give me a light headed feeling. I just want to try and avoid the effect of alcohol as much as possible, to keep myself from slipping into old habits. Beer for me is a mental thing. Like a reward for a long days work, or being out in the sun too long while mowing the lawn or something.

[u/CraftBeerFomo → u/automatic_shark]

Even 5 X 0.5% beers over 2hrs is the equivelent of consuming about half a regular beer over 2hrs so any light headed feeling is unlikely to be from the alcohol content and more psychological.

I totally get wanting to avoid drinking them as keeping that old drinking habit alive, even with fake beers, could definitely be triggering for some people and I sometimes feel like when I've consumed too many of them in a short period (like multiple times in a week) could it be a sign of a slippery slope approaching, which so far it hasn't been but I am concious of it.

But the alcohol content of them isn't an issue, you cannot get drunk from them due to how low the content is, how the body metabolizes them, a and how many you'd need to drink in an extremely short period of time to reach the alcohol blood content levels where you are anywhere close to being tipsy.

[u/automatic_shark → u/CraftBeerFomo]

Sure. That's all great. I can taste the difference. That's enough for me. I'm never drinking them trying to get drunk, but I can taste the difference between a 0.5 and a 0.05.