For a long time, drinking non-alcoholic beer was something that a lot of people felt like they needed to hide. Whether it was because they feared having to explain themselves or that others would poke fun, it wasn’t something people felt like they could openly do.
NA beer has gained a lot of traction in Europe, Canada, and Australia, but it still has a lot of room to grow here in the USA. Only 3.35% of people aged 18-29 have tried non-alcoholic beer in 2018. Part of that has to do with the stigma around non-alcoholic beer.
There are a ton of benefits to NA beer that we believe most beer drinkers should experience. However, the stigma prevents people from branching out to give it a try. That’s why we want to normalize non-alcoholic beer. We want to see NA beer as a socially accepted option alongside the rest of the beer market.
Why are people judgmental against those who drink non-alcoholic beer
For some reason, the idea of a non-alcoholic beer seems to bring out the worst in some people. When the topic arises, they can’t help but feel like they need to be the ones to let everyone know that they disapprove. It’s as if their identity is tied to the consumption of alcohol and someone drinking a low-alcohol beer is threatening their masculinity. Like this guy below from Facebook.
What’s the point of non-alcoholic beer?
While we’ve written about what the point of NA beer is before, we’ll give you a quick recap.
Beer is great. Humans have been drinking beer for thousands of years.
But, believe it or not, alcohol isn’t great for you.
Some people struggle with health issues, some people struggle with substance abuse issues.
Some people just want to stay out late and share a few beers with their friends but switch to NAs halfway through to avoid a hangover or a DUI.
NA beer serves a lot of good. A lot more people would enjoy it a lot more if it were more available and de-stigmatized.
Why we should normalize non-alcoholic beer
NA options are good for everyone. Bars, breweries, patrons, and the public.
If more bars and breweries offered NA options, they could attract more non-drinking clientele, giving those who choose not to drink an option.
But NA beer doesn’t have to be for just the sober. At the end of the night, when you feel like one more drink will be too many, but you don’t want to kill the vibe of going home or switching to water, an NA brew can be the right move. You still get to drink with your friends, the bar makes more money, and you can drive home safely and wake up without a hangover.
So what does it mean to normalize NA beer?
It means being open to dabbling in some of the great new NA brews that are available. It means more bars offering NA options and more breweries crafting NA options. Heck, they don’t even have to call them “non-alcoholic” beers if that makes people feel better. Instead, they can just list their percentage as 0.5% and not many people will be able to tell the difference.
So go ahead and crack open an NA brew. Commit to sampling some of the best craft NAs in the market. Try the 0.5 percenter next time you’re out at the bar. Buy a new NA beer from our online marketplace. It’s going to take a lot of us to normalize NA, but they day will come where it will be a standard.
