“Who drinks non-alcoholic beer?” is a question you may have snarkily overheard in the grocery store aisle, at a restaurant while perusing the drink menu, or maybe while you’ve been enjoying an NA beverage yourself.
To be honest, it’s a fair question.
Who does drink that non-alcoholic beer stuff anyway? What is even the point of non-alcoholic beer? Isn’t the whole point of beer to get you a buzz?
It used to be that the only people who drank NA beer were those who needed to quit drinking altogether for one reason or another… typically for health reasons or because of a history of substance abuse.
But more people are starting to explore the growing world of craft non-alcoholic beer. Not just those who want to be sober, but those who just want to drink more beer.
After years of talking to various NA drinkers and 0.5 percenters, we wanted to share the different types of people we found who drink NA beer just in case you’ve been curious about non-alcoholic craft beer and can relate to one of these. If so, we recommend you give NA beer a try.
Sophia: Settling Down and Sobering Up
Sophia likes to have a good time. Back in college, just a few years ago, Sophia was a big drinker. That’s what college is for right?
Drinking was a crucial aspect of social life. It made her feel involved and included with her friends. The more she drank, the more fun she had.
After college, Sophia started her career which left little time for a social life. What little time she had for a social life was usually spent meeting up with friends after work for drinks, or spending weekends drinking at music festivals and concerts.
She realized that filling every aspect of her social life with drinking was taking a toll on her physical and mental health.Â
She was having a tough time forming authentic relationships, finding productive hobbies, and relating to people on things outside of just booze. Everyone knew buzzed Sophia, but she felt no one knew the real Sophia.
She wanted to get serious about her life, career, and relationships and do a little sobering up.
That’s why Sophia started drinking non-alcoholic beer.
Let’s face it, any social life will involve some sort of drinking. Soda waters and iced teas were okay, but when everyone else had a beer, Sophia felt separated from the group.
Drinking NA beer lets her feel included, enjoy the conversation, and allows her to take back her social life without worrying about her physical or mental health.
Rich: Reaching Retirement-Age & Receiving Doctor’s Advice
Beer was always a huge part of Rich’s life. He grew up watching his father come home after a long day at the steel mill and unwind in front of the TV with a cold one. He and his buddies started drinking together back in high school and carried on the tradition through college and well into their careers and onto the many golf courses they’ve played.
Getting together and sharing a beer was a form of communion for them. A way for them to break (liquid) bread and participate in a ritual that brought them closer and made them feel like they were back in high school again. Any day Rich spent drinking with his buddies made him feel on top of the world. He wouldn’t trade all those memories for anything.
As Rich and his friends are getting closer to retirement, they look forward to being able to spend more time at the beach and the golf course boozing and BS-ing with each other.
However, while Rich doesn’t feel like he needs to slow down, his doctor says otherwise.
His doctor appreciates that Rich is still active at his age and thinks it’s great he’s maintaining his social relationships.
But the amount of drinking Rich is doing is going to lead to serious consequences very soon. His doctor highly advises him to keep his drinking to under 7 drinks a week for a man at his age, which is nothing compared to what he can put back on the golf course.Â
It’s not that Rich is sick, or in poor health, he just needs to accept the consequences of getting older.
Rich cut back throughout the week, but still had a beer or two here and there. By the time his weekend plans rolled around, he was already 5 into his 7 beer limit. He drank two with his buddies, then cut himself off.
To be frank, Rich felt left out. His friends were throwing them back all day, buying rounds, and having a great time. As silly as it sounds, simply not holding onto a beer made him feel like an outsider.
Someone suggested he switch to non-alcoholic beer, but his only experience with it was drinking an O’Douls years back which he didn’t care for.
However, for Rich’s 60th birthday, she gifted him a subscription to NA Beer Club where he got to experience the new NA craft beer options that have recently become available. He got to sample some new NA beverages and find the ones he liked.
Now Rich is a regular NA beer drinker. He shows up to the beach, the golf course, his buddy’s garage, with his own 6-pack (or two). When they hit the pub and start buying rounds, Rich can buy, and be a part of, the next round without feeling left out.
Rich still enjoys the occasional real-beer or two, but he can comfortably switch to his NA without worry.
NA Beer has given Rich a new lease on life. He can keep his body healthy, his doctor satisfied, and never slow down during the next outing with his friends.
Peggy: Maintaining Peak Physical Performance
Peggy has always been an athlete. She ran varsity cross-country and track in high school and competed at the college level at a Division I university. While she doesn’t compete at the same level anymore, maintaining a healthy body and mind is a top priority for her.
She loves pushing her body with endurance activities like running, cycling, hiking, and swimming. She also started practicing mindfulness exercises and activities like yoga, barre, and meditation.
Over the years of maintaining peak physical performance, Peggy really learned how to listen to her body, understanding when things were off.Â
Peggy, like almost everyone else, enjoys drinking beer with friends and family. It was common to hit the bar after a group run at the local running store on a weekly basis.
She started to notice that after nights of drinking, even just a casual beer or two, her body was off. She could feel the slightest of hangovers a little more in her morning workouts.
She felt the dehydration, the extra carbs, not enough to stop her, but just enough to let her know she wasn’t performing at her full potential. For Peggy, performing at anything less than her best was unacceptable.
When Peggy tried a new craft non-alcoholic beer for the first time, she loved it. After her group runs, she and friends would still hit the bar, but Peggy began ordering NAs instead.
The low alcohol content and the absence of carbs allows her to still enjoy the great taste of craft beer, but come morning, she doesn’t feel bloated or slowed down.
NA Beer has given her the freedom to stay in peak physical shape and not worry about the negative health effects.Â
Shaun: Staying Sharp, Focused, and Productive
Shaun takes his career very seriously. He started his own business and is focused on growing it to the best it can be.
Shaun, and the group he works with, live by the philosophy “Work hard play hard.” But lately, it’s getting harder for Shaun to “work hard” after a night of “playing hard.”
It’s getting harder and harder for Shaun to wake up early in the morning and be productive while nursing a hangover. Even if he doesn’t feel physically sick, his mind isn’t as sharp and he’s not as alert as he could be.
Productivity and focus is very important for Shaun and his business, and he’s starting to realize that drinking is getting in the way of that.
Like a lot of companies and industries, the real business is done over drinks, not over a laptop. Shaun always meets clients, prospects, and co-workers for happy hours and networking events where drinking is commonplace.
Those who have never been in the position probably wouldn’t understand, but Shaun feels strongly that sharing a drink and keeping up with clients and prospects helps build the relationships that are crucial to keeping his business alive.
Cutting yourself off after a drink or two kills the vibe of the happy hour, especially when clients are having a great time. Drinking a soda water or iced tea makes clients feel guilty for drinking in front of you, thus making things slightly awkward in the relationship.
Not drinking is simply not an option for Shaun. He has to meet clients for drinks and keep up with them.
However, Shaun noticed his favorite meet-up bar began service craft non-alcoholic beer. Shaun gave it a try and really enjoyed it.
This gave Shaun the ability to order rounds of drinks for the table, stay beer-for-beer with everyone, all while nobody knew he switched to NA. It still allowed everyone to let their guards down and have a good time, all while not affecting Shaun the next day.
Shaun could wake up early, feel great, hit the gym, head to the office, and get heads-down on work day after day.
Finding non-alcoholic beer was a gift for Shaun and his business. He maintains a sharp mind and healthy relationships with his clients.
Can you relate to any of these people?
Do you see yourself as someone who still really enjoys drinking beer, but your relationship with alcohol may have changed over the years?
If so, we highly recommend you give non-alcoholic beer a try. Either contact us, or try out one of our subscription packages to sample a few new, great NAs. You can even shop our NA beer marketplace for your new favorite beer.
Non-alcoholic beer isn’t just for the sober, or people who have quit drinking beer altogether. Regular beers and non-alcoholic beers can often work well together, especially if you’re someone who doesn’t like to cut the night short, but still wants to avoid a hangover or DUI.
So go ahead, hit up your grocery store’s NA aisle, try out an NA Beer Club Subscription, or purchase some non-alcoholic beer online, and take the leap into seeing what all the “buzz” is about.
