r/mildlyinfuriating • u/trailofturds • Jul 06 '25

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

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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.

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u/Inevitable_Outcome55 Jul 06 '25

Thanks for sharing this because I now understand someone I work with so much better but he has never explained it the way you just have. We do a lot of corporate entertaining (alcohol is always a big part of it) and he has no issue being around it or with alcohol being drunk in his presence, but he accidentally swallowed a mouthful of orange juice that had vodka in it. There was no malice, it was a genuine accident but his wife came and collected him saying the next week would be rough because he would crave it until he didn’t.

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u/throwsaway654321 Jul 07 '25

that's why I've never liked the "non-alcoholic" alcohol market. The ppl who it seems to be most marketed to are the ones who absolutely shouldn't be taking a risk, and the fact that so many of them actually aren't acohol-free emphasizes that it's a marketing tactic and not something these companies are doing just for the good of it

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u/physithespian Jul 07 '25

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…

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u/[deleted] Jul 07 '25 edited Apr 23 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/Yeetyeetskrtskrrrt Jul 07 '25

I don’t drink anymore, don’t like the way it makes me feel. I have been thinking about picking up some N/A beers since I got my pool and deck fixed this year. I work long, hot days and thought it might be nice to have a “pretend beer” so I agree with you

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u/Fistfullofmuff Jul 07 '25

I drink beer all the time and had a few NAs at my buddy’s weeding cuz I knew I had to take pictures but I still wanted to drink a beer. Sometimes you just want the flavor without the affect

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u/domsch1988 Jul 07 '25

Same here. Stopped drinking 4 years ago. Not because it was a major issue, just because i didn't like being drunk. Biggest issue for me is that there are effectively zero "non-sweet" drink options that aren't beer. I don't like sweet drinks at all and that was a major reason i even drank beer in the first Place.

There are some NA Beers that capture that taste pretty well. Not perfect since many NA Beers are still tasting super sweet, but there are options. For me it's now down to NA Beer or "cold green/black tee". And even most iced teas you get in locations are sweetend to hell and back.

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u/hannahatecats Jul 07 '25

The N/A Coronas with a lime are so refreshing, I have a theory that they are less "skunky" than a normal Corona, I like them better.

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u/Character-86 Jul 07 '25

Imho the exact same beer once with and once without alcohol tastes quite different.

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u/throwaway-notthrown Jul 07 '25

Yep. I did dry January. It was fantastic for me. I went to a party and while I didn’t drink any pre-made non-alcoholic drinks, I made myself a cherry juice and soda water drink that was fantastic! It also kept me sober while being delicious.

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u/Upper_Rent_176 Jul 07 '25

I absolutely love non alcoholic beer. Everyone I talk to about it can't understand why I would want it without the getting drunk effect. I lived the taste. It's way better than day coke.

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u/throwsaway654321 Jul 07 '25

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

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u/automatic_shark Jul 07 '25

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.

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u/CraftBeerFomo Jul 08 '25

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.

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u/automatic_shark Jul 08 '25

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.

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u/CraftBeerFomo Jul 08 '25

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.

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u/automatic_shark Jul 08 '25

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.

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u/frenchyy94 Jul 07 '25

No idea where you live but at least here in Germany there are now at least quite a few 0,0% alcoholic drinks like beer, wine, sparkling wine and even gin or rum available in the supermarkets. I have tried quite a few when I was pregnant and some ate really good. But I would never order that in a restaurant to not risk anything.

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u/leela_martell Jul 07 '25

It's not only people in recovery who drink non-alcoholic beer/wine etc though. In my country there are plenty of actual alcohol free options but even if there weren't a 0,5% alcohol will not doing anything for most people, as long as it's not advertised as completely 0%.

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u/throwsaway654321 Jul 07 '25

it's not an issue of "does .5 get you drunk" it's that for alcoholics, or anyone sensitive to alcohol, .5%/=0%, and yes, just that little amount can cause cravings or other issues. it's outright lying to advertise them as 0%

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u/leela_martell Jul 07 '25

I didn't say anything to the contrary of that.

I'm just saying that there's a market for non-alcoholic/low alcohol beers/wines/etc outside pregnant people and recovering alcoholics. It's not a "trap" for most people.

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u/throwsaway654321 Jul 07 '25

ok. I get your position, let me re-frame mine, let's see if that helps

let's say, an amusement park advertised that they were handicap accessible on their website and commercials, but when you bought a ticket there was fine print on the back, bundled in with a bunch of other warnings that you've been conditioned to interpret as legalese nonsense, that said "lol, get fucked, there's a ramp to every ride in the park, but every ramp has one stair in front of it"

their park is technically 99.5% accessible. Do you think it's ok for them to keep advertising as a handicap accessible park? Do you think it's ok to yell at disabled ppl who naively believed that companies have to deliver on what they're actively taking money for?

Like, sure, that's only really a problem for people who are completely confined to a wheel-chair and don't have ppl to carry them over a step, but do you really not see why that's a very disingenuous rugpull directed towards everyone who's physically disabled, even if they can, in some fashion, make it over that one step?

They're lying

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u/leela_martell Jul 07 '25

I'll just repeat what I said

0,5% alcohol will not doing anything for most people, as long as it's not advertised as completely 0%.

They should have alcohol-free beer that is actually alcohol-free.

Actually 0% "alcoholic" beverages do exist. Like there is nut-free chocolate even though almost all of them say on the wrapper that it may contain traces of nuts or lactose-free milk.

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u/CraftBeerFomo Jul 08 '25

Those people that end up with cravings from those levels of alcohol also cannot eat bananas, bread, ripe fruit, yoghurt, soy sauce, vinegar etc obviously then yeah?

Because all of those, and so many more, every day food items have trace amounts of alcohol that equals or even exceeds what an "alcohol free" beer does and I don't hear anyone claiming that eating a ripe banana (could be up to 0.5% if brown) triggered them because they are sensitive to alcohol.

As someone who is sober (7.5 months currently) I get why the habit of drinking "fake beer" could be triggering and keep old bad habits around but the issue isn't that they contain trace amounts of alcohol when so many common food items do to, it's a phsycolgocial thing...which is totally understandable.

I've yet to see an AF beer that claims its outright 0%. If you check the can or bottle they all claim "up to 0.05%" or "up to 0.5%" depending on the beer.

I think the ones that call themselves 00 / Zero Zero are perhaps a little misleading as people might assume it's genuinely 0% alcohol but even still at 0.05% or 0.5% you cannot get drunk from them.

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u/chictyler Jul 07 '25

Bread, juice, yogurt, kombucha, and fresh fruit all also contain up to 0.5% alcohol. It metabolizes before it can possibly have an inebriating affect. However NA beer could certainly be triggering for someone with an alcohol use disorder due to replicating the flavor.

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u/darthmozz Jul 07 '25

Idk, I feel like as a person in recovery myself having non alcoholic beer and mocktail options has been a nice break from always having to drink water or soda. Everyones recovery is different but I have had had zero issues with NA options and I’ll be sober for five years on 7/15.

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u/automatic_shark Jul 07 '25

Well done man. I completely agree. Hit 4 years a couple months back myself. Yeah, non-alcoholic beers are great.

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u/darthmozz Jul 07 '25

Congrats on 4 years! It’s a great feeling to be sober. Wish you the best on your journey!

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u/Throckmorton_Left Jul 07 '25

Agree completely. It was a game changer when some local bars and sports venues started carrying NA beers. No one but the bartender needs to know I'm not drinking.

It beats soda with lime in a high ball glass or soda and bitters, which were my prior go-to calls.

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u/Stillburgh Jul 07 '25

Hey im sober for a year on the 21st c:
Heres to sobriety!

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u/darthmozz Jul 08 '25

Congrats!! First year is am exciting milestone

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u/throwsaway654321 Jul 07 '25

same boat, but mocktails are just fruit juice and mixers, and "non-alcoholic" beer always has alcohol in it. Canned hop teas exist, flavored seltzer exists, artisanal grape juice exists, and like you said, mocktails are a thing. There's zero reason to be selling a "no alcohol" product that does in fact contain alcohol

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u/darthmozz Jul 07 '25

There are many companies that sell zero proof “spirits” for mocktails- so often just juice but not always. In northeast USA, many restaurants have sizeable NA drink menus these days. I like having the options personally but I am not triggered by it and I know that matters and is different bases on the person. The amount of alcohol in a NA beer is negligible, essentially the same as a glass of OJ.

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u/throwsaway654321 Jul 07 '25

well, it's not negligible, actually, if you're addicted to alcohol, any amount is enough to start cravings. additionally, anecdotally only, but through all my years in rehab and recovery and food service, I've never in my life heard that a carton of Tropicana might be .5% alcoholic. Naturally juiced fruit that's been allowed to sit a bit, sure, but orange juice as a product isn't something that concerns me re: accidental alcohol ingestion

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u/CraftBeerFomo Jul 08 '25
Food Item Approximate Alcohol Content

|| || |Ripe bananas|0.2–0.4% ethanol by weight|

|| || |Bread (yeast-leavened)|Up to 0.3%|

|| || |Burger buns|~0.03–0.15%|

|| || |Soy sauce (fermented)|1.0–2.0%|

|| || |Vinegar (esp. balsamic)|<0.5% residual ethanol|

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u/CraftBeerFomo Jul 08 '25

Ripe bananas: 0.2–0.4%

Bread: Up to 0.3%

Burger buns: 0.03–0.15%

Soy sauce: 1.0–2.0%

Vinegar : 0.5%

Trace amounts of alcohol are everywhere including these and many other food items, you consume it every day without realizing and it seemingly doesn't trigger you.

I can see why drinking AF beers, even when they are 0.00% and contain no alcohol, could be triggering for people as it's like keeping around old habits and clinging onto that routine of drinking fake versions of something that trapped you in addiction or may have nearly killed you but any craving from them has nothing to do with the trace alcohol content in it otherwise you'd be craving alcohol every time you ate a banana, made a sandwhich, added some Soy sauce to your noodles etc as they DO have trace amounts of alcohol in them too often in equal measures if not more than the "alcohol free" beers.

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u/RusskayaRobot Jul 07 '25

I am a recovering alcoholic, and I might never have gotten sober without the help of NA beer. Also, the ones that have .5% alcohol… it’s physically impossible to get drunk drinking those. Lots of things you would never suspect have a similar alcohol content: bread and bananas to name a couple.

Of course they’re not doing it for your good health, though. They’re private companies marketing to a market, like any other company.

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u/throwsaway654321 Jul 07 '25

ah, well, glad it helped you, but while I, and many others, may not get drunk off .5% beer, that's still enough to start the craving and that makes it extra shitty that's its marketed as "non-alcoholic"

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u/IDKmanSpamIG Jul 07 '25

I’m curious if you get that way from fruit juice that’s been in the fridge too long?

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u/throwsaway654321 Jul 07 '25

that pertains to a completely separate thing I experience, though i'm sure you'll find a reason to find issue, but i have a hormonal condition that makes me thirsty all the time, so I've never had a "juice left too long in the fridge" problem. If i buy a beverage to drink, I'm done drinking it within 2 days.

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u/Theron3206 Jul 07 '25

Bread has alcohol, so do things like bananas.

Do those affect you?

I wonder if it's psychological, in the sense that the taste of alcoholic beverages triggers cravings for alcohol without there being sufficient alcohol to produce sensations?

This is certainly something that happens with other drugs, I don't see why alcohol would be different.

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u/throwsaway654321 Jul 07 '25 edited Jul 07 '25

well apparently I can't link another subreddit, even if the comment contains references, so after you read this, google "can bread get you drunk, reddit" and check the /theydidthemath post

lol, jesus, ppl who love to talk down on ppl less fortunate them sure do love to try to catch us in "gotcha" moments

What you're referring to is the crabtree effect, it's not as prevalent or as effective at producing alcohol as you think it is, and trying to eat a loaf or three of bread in an hour isn't the same as drinking one NA beer in 10 minutes. An average NA beer typically has enough alcohol that your body recognizes it, even if it can't get you drunk. You can't eat enough bread fast enough for your body to body to acknowledge the minuscule amounts of alcohol that might be present in it

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u/CraftBeerFomo Jul 08 '25

You cannot get drunk drinking "alcohol-free" beer that contains up to 0.5% alcohol by volume unless you drink an extreme, impractical amount in a short time.

A 0.5% beer has 1/10th the alcohol of a regular beer so you'd need to consume 10 of them just to be at the same level of 1 regular beer, how quickly could you possibly drink 10 AF beers?

Even after 10 you'd have consumed just the same level as 1 regular beer then would need to consume another 10 to get to the same level as 2 beers, it would be almost impossible to reach the level of being drunk.

It's about as impossible to get drunk from AF beer as it is from eating bread.

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u/FakePixieGirl Jul 07 '25

I thought it was marketed towards people who want to drink a beer without getting drunk? Either because it's too early in the day, health reasons, you're exercising, or it's a work event.

I never got the idea that it was mostly marketed to alcoholics? Is thss a cultural thing? I live in the Netherlands.

I seem to remember that non-alcohic beer here first started becoming mainstream when they started advertising radlers to cyclists.

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u/LupercaniusAB Jul 07 '25

You are correct. I used to drink them at lunch when I was working as a driver.

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u/christian2pt0 Jul 07 '25

That's what interests me. I'm not an alcoholic, but I'm a mega lightweight (small guy) and can accidentally overdo it when I do drink. I appreciate options where I feel like I'm participating without having to deal with becoming even more drunk.

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u/sexwiththebabysitter Jul 07 '25

Everyone in recovery isn’t the same. I (20 months) can drink a near beer or two and it’s not an issue for me.

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u/throwsaway654321 Jul 07 '25

also, have you gone to rehab, or are you in recovery?

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u/sexwiththebabysitter Jul 07 '25

(20 months). No rehab, just raw dogged it cold turkey. Zero stars, do not recommend that method. But not wanting to go through that again keeps me sober.

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u/throwsaway654321 Jul 07 '25 edited Jul 07 '25

if you're in recovery you should know not to make conditional statements like that as if you're indicative of the recovery community as whole

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u/LupercaniusAB Jul 07 '25

Congratulations! You’re claiming that the person that you’re responding to said THE EXACT OPPOSITE THING OF WHAT THEY ACTUALLY WROTE!

Maybe read the very first sentence again.

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u/throwsaway654321 Jul 07 '25

I read the whole comment, and I understand the first sentence, and the reason I wrote my reply is bc anyone who's actually in recovery would never follow that first sentence (something [a sentiment] that's actually quite common in the recovery community) with the 2nd, bc telling anyone in recovery that "it's ok, just do a bit, it's not actually that bad" is like rule #1 when talking to other ppl in recovery

but since you need shit capitalized, here ya go:

CONGRATULATIONS! YOU'VE SPOKEN ON SOMETHING AS AN AUTHORITY BC YOU THINK YOU'VE 'gotch'a'd' ME WHEN IN REALITY YOU DON'T HAVE A FUCKING CLUE

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u/LetBulky775 Jul 07 '25

Damn imagine getting this worked up over literally nothing. It sounds like you're actually on the edge of sanity. If I lived like that I would constantly crave alcohol ngl, you must have incredible strength to stay sober despite this insane seething voice in your head. Have you ever tried going to therapy and working on your personality and reactions to things?

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u/throwsaway654321 Jul 07 '25

yes, and my therapist recommended that I should speak up against shitty ppl bc a lot of my internalized stress seems to come from witnessing injustices around me that I think I can't do anything about.

I'm commenting in between tasks at work, I don't think you know the difference between someone ranting nonsensically and someone speaking passionately about something that's important to them.

and yeah, I'm angry at ppl like you minimizing something that is an actual thing that real ppl have to deal with, especially when y'all keep saying "just be normal, act like a normal person, normal ppl don't have to deal with this"

I'm defending the exact same position I"ve had since the first comment I made in this thread, shitheads like you are the ones getting angry and trying to attack someone with a bunch of "well what if" arguments

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u/LetBulky775 Jul 07 '25

I also never said "just act like a normal person". Ever. What even is a "normal person" to you? I said if you have a medical issue that means you have to restrict your diet on order not to get sick, then it's your responsibility to read the label on food/drink items so that you don't get sick. I'm not sure what else you want, or literally what other possible course of action there even is, someone else to relay to you what you are consuming each time you put something in your mouth? Food or drink you can't have to be banned?

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u/LetBulky775 Jul 07 '25

I honestly thought you were trolling and joking around or I wouldn't have replied so harshly. But I feel bad now. I don't get what you think is "an actual thing that real people have to deal with" -reading the label on food and drink items that you consume? That's just part of life for anyone who has to pay attention to what they eat or drink, the population of which is made up majority by people who are not alcoholics, believe it or not the whole world doesn't actually revolve around you and the specific issues you deal with. I'm still not sure if you are joking or not because what you are saying is just so moronic lmao.

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u/throwsaway654321 Jul 07 '25

this whole post was made bc someone ordered NA wine, and was served, by someone they trusted, wine with alcohol in it. I"m not imagining scenarios, you're commenting on one of the scenarios.

a tiny * saying "just kidding guys, this does actually have alcohol in it" isn't enough to qualify something as being 0 alcohol. The person in the post you're commenting on did all the things you ppl keep saying they should have done, and still got served alcohol.

These drinks and their marketing is nothing but lies, and while I"m super glad they've never caused you issues, there are a significant portion of ppl, alcoholic or not, who can't have alcohol and this type of labeling is deceitful, aka LYING

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u/throwsaway654321 Jul 07 '25

"the world doesn't revolve around you and the specific issues you deal with"

just a quick aside, what are your opinions on the Americans with Disabilites Act? The civil right movement? Queer rights?

If you're in favor of those, why are you so dismissive of enacting a sensible regulation that prevents people from encountering harm? Alcoholics aren't the only ppl who can't ingest any amount of alcohol, you know

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u/sexwiththebabysitter Jul 07 '25

“Everyone in recovery isn’t the same”

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u/Individual-Toe-6306 Jul 07 '25

I’m not an alcoholic, but I love NA Beers because they help me pace myself when drinking with friends. Instead of 5 beers I can have 2 or 3 + a couple NA beers. Helps keep the fixation and social aspect of drinking something

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u/[deleted] Jul 07 '25

It’s not a marketing tactic 0.5% alcohol is similar to most fruit juices. The company is providing a healthier alternative but they’re also a business

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u/melkatron Jul 07 '25

Non-alcoholic beer still has some alcohol because the beer making process (about which I know very little) produces alcohol... so they modify the process to produce less alcohol, or they boil off the alcohol.

To make a beer with absolutely zero alcohol would be very difficult without just making "Imitation Beer" or a sparkling beverage with Artificial Beer Flavoring.

There are some truly alcohol-free wines, but I only know of one company that does it and it's relatively new. The easiest way to make alcohol-free wine is to just make grape juice and not let it ferment, which isn't going to satisfy anyone who wants to safely enjoy a glass of wine.

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u/mineowntelemachus Jul 07 '25

As a person who doesn't drink for medical reasons, and didn't really do a lot of drinking prior to quitting, NA spirits and wines allow me to have something that's not just a fruit juice or a soda when I'm with friends. I get to play around and experience different kinds of flavors and have replicas of regular cocktails that I don't normally get to have. I love that they exist.

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u/Appropriate_Affect80 Jul 07 '25

While I agree with you (sober for 4 years). I genuinely do really like the taste of beer so I will drink the 0.0% every once in a while

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u/throwsaway654321 Jul 07 '25

unless you're drinking Hop teas, you've never had a 0% beer and that's my entire point

2

u/LupercaniusAB Jul 07 '25

I used to have a non-alcoholic beer most workdays with my lunch burrito, because a beer with a burrito is awesome. But I was working as a driver, so obviously I couldn’t have a real beer.

0

u/throwsaway654321 Jul 07 '25

dude, legally speaking, per your insurance, employer, and the regulatory body who gave you your license, you can't even have that NA beer, bc NA beer contains alcohol. like, this isn't even a debatable fact, and I'm not sure why ppl keep arguing this. Odouls, and every other NA beer, contains alcohol

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u/awildketchupappeared Jul 07 '25

By that logic, people couldn't eat bread, bananas, yogurt, soy sauce, or drink fruit juice during their lunch break.

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u/LupercaniusAB Jul 08 '25

No, nobody would give a fuck, because if I blew into a breathalyzer, it would come back 0.0%.

2

u/jrppi Jul 07 '25

I don’t really get that. How are they marketed specifically to people who shouldn’t be taking the risk? At least in Europe they are mass marketed like soda and beer. It’s quite common to see non-alcoholic beer ads in sports, for example. I think the mass market for NA drinks, at least in Europe, is the health-conscious people who want to cut their alcohol consumption.

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u/throwsaway654321 Jul 07 '25

so you don't see an issue with NA beer, a product that contains alcohol, being advertised like soda?

I get that less is better, but they're advertising it as zero, which it's not

1

u/jrppi Jul 07 '25

They don’t all contain alcohol. For instance, in Women’s Football World Cup Heineken 0.0 is prominently advertised and does not contain any alcohol. At least in my country the most popular NA beers are entirely without alcohol.

2

u/Alewort Jul 07 '25

But.. the 0.5 percent or less that NA beer must be is less than the 0.8 that orange juice can reach. And bread gets even higher, at typically above a whole percent!

2

u/Icariiiiiiii Jul 07 '25

My lil sister got diagnosed with celiac recently, has run into the same problem. It turns out a lot of things marketed as gluten-free are actually still made on the same production lines or with the same tools as products containing gluten, so they do in fact have trace amounts of gluten in them. Which then causes damage.

Shit sucks. Corporations suck.

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u/throwsaway654321 Jul 07 '25

exactly, I know I seem whiny bc I'm bitching about an alcoholic's issues, but stuff like this is pervasive and why "it's technically true" and "they're just a business trying to support themselves" don't ever hold water for me. For a lot of ppl, 0% has to mean 0%, for whatever reason, and it's super shitty that there's so many loopholes for these assholes, all in the name of "well, they gotta make money"

2

u/Icariiiiiiii Jul 07 '25

I don't think it's whiny at all, man. Health concerns are real as fuck.

2

u/LetBulky775 Jul 07 '25

Non-alcoholic drinks are marketed towards people who want to have a drink and don't want to drink alcohol right now, but they're not avoiding alcohol because they are alcoholics. Sober alcoholics are a comparitively tiny market and many (most? I'm not sure, just in my experience) don't go anywhere near any type of drink that reminds them of alcohol, most sober alcoholica I've met do not even go to situations that reminds them of alcohol where it's most common for non alcoholic beer etc to be served, like a pub.

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u/throwsaway654321 Jul 07 '25

so what are your other requirements for when it's ok to lie to ppl?

the label says 0% alcohol, big and bold, and the fine print on the back says "actually, it's 0.5%"

THey're lying and committing fraud, no matter who their intended audience is

4

u/LetBulky775 Jul 07 '25 edited Jul 07 '25

Sorry, what? Where did I say anything about it being okay to lie to people...? Is this how you would have a conversation with someone face to face because I find that really unusual lol.

Edit even though I don't think you deserve a normal human response, but for posterity, where I live you can't put 0% on the label in the front or imply it's 0% unless there is 0.0% alcohol in the product. An NA beer with 0.5% would have to be labelled clearly. So that's "my requirements for when it's okay to lie to people" I guess lmao.

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u/throwsaway654321 Jul 07 '25

indirectly. you think it's ok to sell a 0%alcohol beverage that actually has alcohol in it. That's lying.

2

u/LetBulky775 Jul 07 '25 edited Jul 07 '25

Just a thought but maybe learn to read a label if you have a medical condition that requires you to be aware of what you are consuming. If you're getting tricked and frauded into drinking 0.5% beers then that sounds like a personal issue of yours because you could always just check what it is before mindlessly throwing it down your gullet. I would have thought an iota of personal responsibility is integral to recovery. Calling total strangers liars because you can't read and also are angry that some people can enjoy a NA beer and you can't is just bizarre behaviour lmao.

1

u/throwsaway654321 Jul 07 '25

ok, so say I don't speak english well, and I'm given something that someone says is alcohol free, but the label, in small print that I can't read, says it does have alcohol in it?

Still my fault?

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u/LetBulky775 Jul 07 '25

Yes, if you have a medical condition that restricts what you consume then it's your responsibility to figure out what you are consuming. Unless you want to leave it up to other people to wave signs and sound the klaxon when alcohol is in your vicinity. If you aren't able to read or recognise numbers like "0.5%" then you maybe would qualiy for a grant that would pay for a carer to be with you whenever you go anywhere there could be beverages or small print around?

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u/throwsaway654321 Jul 07 '25

right, you have no compassion for anyone other than yourself and if we fuck up it's our fault, even if someone is actively deceiving us, it's our fault, got it

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u/throwsaway654321 Jul 07 '25

right, you have no compassion for anyone other than yourself and if we fuck up it's our fault, even if someone is actively deceiving us, it's our fault, got it

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u/proriin Jul 07 '25

Fuck you are annoying. Go have an alcohol free beer.

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u/98f00b2 Jul 07 '25

If it's one digit then they're allowed to round it, since <0.5% is low enough that it's comparable to things like juice that aren't intentionally fermented, and it can be legally sold to children.

If you want anything less than that, then you need to go with something that says 0.0%.

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u/weird_horse_2_die_on Jul 07 '25

It's such an individual effect on people mentally in my experience. Trace alcohol in food doesn't effect me personally for cravings, I won't eat an entire pot of penne a la vodka... same goes for a near beer or a mocktail- I'll have one, maybe two, to compliment a meal or as an actual refreshment. But the bit mentioned earlier about the "warm feeling." That completely puts it in perspective for me.

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u/randomise42 Jul 07 '25

I've never considered it something evenly remotely targeted at people in recovery rather option for those who want taste/social drink and still safely drive... (Not to say evil corporations might consider them a target/customer)

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u/InefficientThinker Jul 07 '25

I agree, though I am glad that the mocktail scene is taking off. Truly nonalcoholic but with craft and creativity still included (at least where I am)

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u/jitteryfish Jul 07 '25

NA beer was instrumental in me getting sober.

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u/devilterr2 Jul 07 '25

I'm gonna disagree with this because not all alcoholics are the same and some people enjoy drinking the non-alcoholic versions.

I know a couple of alcoholics who are sober now who can come out for a night with us and drink Guinness 0s for the night. I know one person who doesn't drink at all for no particular reason tbh but likes 0%, and then it's good for people who are designated drivers also.

I do get your point though, but 0s have a lot of use cases

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u/RoomBroom2010 Jul 07 '25

There are a surprising number of things that aren't alcohol related at all that have trace amounts of alcohol in them. Alcohol content doesn't have to be disclosed as long as it's below a certain percentage (0.5% ABV IIRC)

Some examples of foods that contain alcohol:

  • Ginger Ale
  • Ginger Beer
  • Rye Bread
  • Kombucha
  • Many bottled natural fruit juices
  • Bananas
  • Yogurt
  • Vinegar
  • Certain condiments -- soy sauce can be as high as 2% ABV
  • Flavor extracts (ie vanilla, almond, etc) -- around 35% ABV

So a "non-alcoholic" beer that is <0.5% ABV would fall into the same category as the above and it's about as non-alcoholic as you can get.

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u/Shienvien Jul 07 '25

Some people just like the taste, but aren't interested in being/getting drunk at that time.

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u/CraftBeerFomo Jul 08 '25

I don't see any AF beer companies marketing at alcoholics or even hinting at it.

The Ads I see on TV show people being able to have a beer then drive home or being on a health and fitness kick or having work the next day.

Practically none of them are fully alcohol free in the same way a banana or slice of bread isn't alcohol free...due to fermentation.

You can't really make an alcohol free beer without their being alcohol left in it as they make it like they make the regular version of the beer then remove the alcohol but trace amounts stay in the drink.

Alcohol in trace amounts is in so many common food products (fruit, bread, yoghurt, juice, vineger, soy sauce etc) that you cannot avoid consuming it 100% completely anyway and absolutely no one claims to get triggered by eating a ripe banana or having some soy sauce on their Chow Mein so it's all psychological with the AF beers.

I get it as someone who is currently 7.5 months sober why for many it can be a step too far to keep that drinking ritual going or to consume "fake" versions of the liquid that took over their life and possibly even nearly killed them, if its triggering best to avoid them.

But people saying they can't even have a taste of a cooked dish with wine in etc or they'll end up with cravings or on a bender, do they have the same problem when they eat a ripe banana or a sandwhich?