Advice on how to enjoy homebrewing over the years without becoming an alcoholic.

[Clint Yeastwood]

I could be wrong, I'm not a doctor but I think there's folks who like to drink, may over consume at times but are not an alcoholic.

It seems to me that some people have a self-limiting apparatus, and others do not. I don't think willpower is much of a factor, because there are drunks who are very disciplined in other areas. The same is true for fat people, and the world is full of skinny people who are total idiots.

If I have three pints in one night, I can feel it the next day. I don't want to have that feeling every day. The next day, I don't feel like drinking as much.

My college roommate, who enjoyed drinking alone, could get drunk two nights in a row. I could never do that, and I drank like a fish in college. I could get really drunk every Saturday, but I could not get drunk on Friday and again on Saturday.

My family lived next to an old Irish lady, and she used to fill a tumbler with vodka and chug it. She was beyond hope.

Seems like an awful lot of alcoholics end up on vodka or wine. Vodka is supposed to be less likely to cause hangovers, and alcoholics tell themselves no one can smell it on them. Of course, everyone else can smell it 10 feet away. Wine is very easy to drink, and cheap wine is everywhere.

 

[brewbama]

Hi All,

I've been home brewing a few years and really enjoy it. On the subject title I am not looking for medical advice necessarily, I don't have alcohol used disorder or a physical addiction to alcohol. But i recently watched my Dad, a closeted alcoholic for a long time, spill out of the closet. I never want to go through what he did. I wanted to hear from some of you who have been brewing for many years and still have a healthy relationship with alcohol. What rules do you follow to keep beer around as a hobby long term without easing gradually into more dependence?

I would also love hear some of your favorite low or ultra low abv beer recipes. My favorite commercial beer is Guinness Draught, and I'm interested in adding botanicals/foraged plants to beer.

Thanks!

This is how I deal with consuming my products responsibly. This may not work for everyone but it works for me. I found myself drinking 2-3 pints per night plus more on weekends. I wasn’t getting snot slinging drunk but I ‘took the edge off’ daily. Needless to say I was gaining excess weight (stored as fat) due to the caloric intake beyond what my daily energy needs were. So, I decided to make changes.

First, I reduced consumption to weekends only. 2 beers Sat and 2 Sun. This cut way down on consuming the beer, now I had too much beer so I wasn’t brewing as much. In addition I didn’t have the variety I craved. So, I had to make more changes.

I began brewing 3 gal batches (down from 5) . However, I still had ‘excess’ beer on hand. So, I had to find ways to give away beer. About that time the Master HomeBrew Program article came out in Zymurgy. Competition Brewing is a great way to brew routinely keeping the brewday count up, keeping variety on tap, not drink too much, etc. …and the feedback has improved my beer.

In fact, I found that I needed to brew more. So, I bought a 3 gal fermenter and three 1.5 gal kegs. I brew large batches (3 gal) to mostly consume and give away, and small batches (1.5 gal) to taste and mostly give away.

Now, I get variety, don’t drink as much, and have found the MHP provides structure to answer the age old question of what to brew next. I never was a competitor per se but I enjoy competition brewing.

I am one 30 + point Lager away from ranking up to ‘Recognized Brewer’ and I am 1/3 the way towards ‘Jack of all Trades’ (brewing 1 30+ point beer in each of the 41 categories of Beer/Mead/Cider).

Oh, and I am down 75 lbs. From 38 to 32 size waist pants/shorts.

 

[beersk]

This is how I deal with consuming my products responsibly. This may not work for everyone but it works for me. I found myself drinking 2-3 pints per night plus more on weekends. I wasn’t getting snot slinging drunk but I ‘took the edge off’ daily. Needless to say I was gaining excess weight (stored as fat) due to the caloric intake beyond what my daily energy needs were. So, I decided to make changes.

First, I reduced consumption to weekends only. 2 beers Sat and 2 Sun. This cut way down on consuming the beer, now I had too much beer so I wasn’t brewing as much. In addition I didn’t have the variety I craved. So, I had to make more changes.

I began brewing 3 gal batches (down from 5) . However, I still had ‘excess’ beer on hand. So, I had to find ways to give away beer. About that time the Master HomeBrew Program article came out in Zymurgy. Competition Brewing is a great way to brew routinely keeping the brewday count up, keeping variety on tap, not drink too much, etc. …and the feedback has improved my beer.

In fact, I found that I needed to brew more. So, I bought a 3 gal fermenter and three 1.5 gal kegs. I brew large batches (3 gal) to mostly consume and give away, and small batches (1.5 gal) to taste and mostly give away.

Now, I get variety, don’t drink as much, and have found the MHP provides structure to answer the age old question of what to brew next. I never was a competitor per se but I enjoy competition brewing.

I am one 30 + point Lager away from ranking up to ‘Recognized Brewer’ and I am 1/3 the way towards ‘Jack of all Trades’ (brewing 1 30+ point beer in each of the 41 categories of Beer/Mead/Cider).

Oh, and I am down 75 lbs. From 38 to 32 size waist pants/shorts.

Man, that's wild. Congrats on that. How long did it take to lose that much weight?
I don't need to lose that kind of weight, but 20lbs would be nice. I'm 5'8 and 175lbs. Fairly muscular build and I carry it well, so most people probably would say I don't need to lose weight. But I think I look and feel my best when I'm about 155 or so. Currently wear size 34 pants/shorts and medium tshirts.

I've taken month-long breaks here and there and didn't really lose much weight. A month probably isn't long enough. I hear about people losing 10lbs in the first week and I think, what planet do you come from where that is even possible? It's probably water weight.
Since the body processes alcohol differently the calories don't factor the same way as food. If you drink and eat, the body will concentrate on the alcohol calories first, which is why you get the "beer belly", ie the food you eat with the beer just gets stored as fat.

But the important thing for me, is when I don't drink beer, my blood sugar is way more leveled out all the time. I don't get as hungry the next morning, etc. So in essence, I eat less.

Currently, I'm still beerless and feeling just fine. I'm going to keep it going for a while and try to drop some good weight and then get back into drinking lower alcohol beers. I brewed a leichtbier yesterday so I'm looking forward to that in about 6 weeks or so.

 

[brewbama]

It took two separate efforts over a cpl yrs. the first was low carb 250-200 and the second was caloric deficit 200-175. The low carb was more dramatic but sucked. The caloric deficit was easier but more gradual. Much more sustainable. It was about 1 lb a week.

 

[corkybstewart]

Man, that's wild. Congrats on that. How long did it take to lose that much weight?


I've taken month-long breaks here and there and didn't really lose much weight. A month probably isn't long enough. I hear about people losing 10lbs in the first week and I think, what planet do you come from where that is even possible?

My wife came to France in early December, I didn't get here until the end of February, so I cooked for myself for 3 months. I ended up losing 15 pounds because I cooked and ate reasonable amounts daily, cut way back on booze without our daily cocktail hour, and only one couple was invited for dinner those 3 months. My wife is an excellent cook, but her specialty is cooking for 10-20 people so my job is to deal with the leftovers.
Now that I'm in France social life requires we eat and drink way too much, even as all her family members complain about how much we eat.
Last night was the birthday party for the ex husband of a sister in law. Pure charcutier, the closest thing to a veggie was the pickle served with the rillette and pork liver/mushroom pate. And though it was relatively sane in terms of wine, we had bottles of 4 different wines and I probably had at least one bottle by myself.
My wife is the 8th child in a family with 11 children. 4 of them became raging alcoholics, even in terms of French consumption. 2 brothers gave up alcohol completely(but still maintain and serve large quantities of various alcohols for guests), one died from years of drinking and smoking, and her youngest sister(age 63) is trying to drink herself to death with a minimum of one bottle of whisky every day.

 

[beersk]

My wife came to France in early December, I didn't get here until the end of February, so I cooked for myself for 3 months. I ended up losing 15 pounds because I cooked and ate reasonable amounts daily, cut way back on booze without our daily cocktail hour, and only one couple was invited for dinner those 3 months. My wife is an excellent cook, but her specialty is cooking for 10-20 people so my job is to deal with the leftovers.
Now that I'm in France social life requires we eat and drink way too much, even as all her family members complain about how much we eat.
Last night was the birthday party for the ex husband of a sister in law. Pure charcutier, the closest thing to a veggie was the pickle served with the rillette and pork liver/mushroom pate. And though it was relatively sane in terms of wine, we had bottles of 4 different wines and I probably had at least one bottle by myself.
My wife is the 8th child in a family with 11 children. 4 of them became raging alcoholics, even in terms of French consumption. 2 brothers gave up alcohol completely(but still maintain and serve large quantities of various alcohols for guests), one died from years of drinking and smoking, and her youngest sister(age 63) is trying to drink herself to death with a minimum of one bottle of whisky every day.

That's sad to read. Alcohol definitely takes control of some people more than others. I do not believe it's a gene like AA wants you to believe, but rather the alcohol itself. It's no different than any other addictive drug. Some people just go off the deep end while others can keep some amount of control. I could never be one of the people that go off the deep end. It just makes me feel terrible if I drink too much. But by the CDC guidelines, I was drinking too much. Two to 4 pints a day, plus more on the weekends. I would not call that "off the deep end" but it's certainly excessive.
I had a girlfriend that when she drank she could just keep going and going and going even after she was completely blotto. I just couldn't imagine doing that. I get to a certain point and I have to just stop or I start feeling really bad or I have to eat and I lose all desire to drink anymore.

While that lifestyle you have there in France sounds fun it does sound a bit exhausting with all the food and drink. It'd be fun for a while but I couldn't do it all the time.

 

[corkybstewart]

I had a girlfriend that when she drank she could just keep going and going and going even after she was completely blotto. I just couldn't imagine doing that. I get to a certain point and I have to just stop or I start feeling really bad or I have to eat and I lose all desire to drink anymore.

While that lifestyle you have there in France sounds fun it does sound a bit exhausting with all the food and drink. It'd be fun for a while but I couldn't do it all the time.

My wife is much like your ex, but she pulls that stunt one or 2 times per year.
I'm convinced that there is a genetic component but it's not the determining factor in who becomes an alcoholic and who doesn't.
Normal days here are like normal days in the states, with regular sized meals and moderate alcohol. The problem is with birthdays and when family/friends stop by in the evening. We avoid eating bread and cheese most days because that calls for red wine, but even then if we are alone we'll split one bottle and then quit. And when we travel might go days without drinking more than a beer or glass of wine with dinner.

 

[beersk]

My wife is much like your ex, but she pulls that stunt one or 2 times per year.
I'm convinced that there is a genetic component but it's not the determining factor in who becomes an alcoholic and who doesn't.
Normal days here are like normal days in the states, with regular sized meals and moderate alcohol. The problem is with birthdays and when family/friends stop by in the evening. We avoid eating bread and cheese most days because that calls for red wine, but even then if we are alone we'll split one bottle and then quit. And when we travel might go days without drinking more than a beer or glass of wine with dinner.

That's the problem, isn't it? It's the perceived obligation to drink on certain occasions when really it isn't necessary. That's the mentality I'm trying to break. It's the There's-Always-A-Reason-To-Drink sort of attitude/mentality that I got myself into. It was always there but it got worse with the pandemic. You know, like, I'm grilling out, so I have to drink beers. Not one, but multiple. Or, I'm watching baseball or football, gotta have beers. Just unnecessary. It happens to everyone, some worse than others. I don't know about the genetic component to addiction, but I certainly think there are personality traits that lead to it in some more so than others. Not sure I'd call that genetic but I suppose you could... But it doesn't just run with alcohol. We don't call people who are addicted to cocaine, cocaine-aholics or heroin, heroin-aholics. They're addicts because the drug is addictive not because they have a genetic predisposition to become addicted to that drug. That's just what I believe anyway.

 

[DBhomebrew]

No need to believe or not believe. Some very quick reading (from the likes of Mayo Clinic, NIH, etc, not AA) will give you all the solid knowledge you need. It's not just some theoretical, generic "genetics". They've identified the handful of specific genes responsible. Those genes account for roughly 50% of a person's likelihood to suffer from alcohol use disorder.

Genes, yes. Other factors, yes.

 

[Clint Yeastwood]

I had a girlfriend whose dad was a Muslim. I think she got her alcoholism from him. He came from a family that didn't drink, and then he had an atheist daughter who changed the pattern by drinking, and she became an alcoholic. I think the inclination was suppressed in his family because it didn't get the opportunity to express itself.

I used to finish bottles of wine to keep her from doing it. After I dumped her, I had occasion to talk to the next guy who dumped her, and he said she hid bottles all over his house. She was thin by nature, but she got that soft, mushy mound of fat on her belly you see alcoholic women get.

It took me a while to realize she was an alcoholic, because she rarely seemed drunk. Eventually I realized she was drinking just about every day, and she was least pleasant when she had had a few.

 

[beersk]

No need to believe or not believe. Some very quick reading (from the likes of Mayo Clinic, NIH, etc, not AA) will give you all the solid knowledge you need. It's not just some theoretical, generic "genetics". They've identified the handful of specific genes responsible. Those genes account for roughly 50% of a person's likelihood to suffer from alcohol use disorder.

Genes, yes. Other factors, yes.

But there is no "alcoholic's gene". These same genes you refer to could lead to any number of addictions, not just alcohol. Maybe there's a hereditary component leading to a predisposition to addiction (of any kind), but that is not to do with genes. At least, from my research, it hasn't been proven to be so. Nature vs. nurture perhaps.

 

[mac_1103]

These same genes you refer to could lead to any number of addictions, not just alcohol.

Yes. I think that is exactly the point.

Maybe there's a hereditary component leading to a predisposition to addiction (of any kind), but that is not to do with genes.

Sorry, what? A hereditary component is by definition to do with genes.

 

[beersk]

Yes. I think that is exactly the point.

Sorry, what? A hereditary component is by definition to do with genes.

I got nothin'...

 

[DBhomebrew]

But there is no "alcoholic's gene".

There is no "alcoholic's gene", but there are genes which specifically key into how a person metabolises ethanol. These are among the many genes which together may predispose a person for addiction.

 

[beersk]

There is no "alcoholic's gene", but there are genes which specifically key into how a person metabolises ethanol. These are among the many genes which together may predispose a person for addiction.

Good enough.

Now let's get back to what we really know well...drinking beer. I've taken breaks before and usually around day 10 I really start missing it. So far I'm not. But things change once the weekend rolls around. That's a mentality I need to break, is the "Oh, it's the weekend, let's drink beer all Saturday afternoon and evening!" And the Sunday afternoon beers in a biergarten or while I'm out riding my bike...or the Friday night beers at the Mexican restaurant, etc. All things that are fun but not necessary to an enjoyable life.

A friend and his girlfriend stopped over last night and I drank a La Croix while they drank some of my homebrew. It was fine and I appreciated that they still wanted to hang out even though I wasn't drinking. It's when friends decide that since you're not drinking they don't want to bother with hanging out, that is lame. Like me not drinking is somehow a reflection of your own problem with drinking? That's lame. What difference does it make whether I drink or not to whether we can hang out and socialize? I know it's a shared experience and all, but are you really sharing an experience over beer when you're out to eat or at a bar? At a brewery maybe I can see, but any place else, I don't get it.

 

[mac_1103]

It's when friends decide that since you're not drinking they don't want to bother with hanging out, that is lame

I wouldn't call those people friends.

 

[sibelman]

mentality

This strikes me as key, especially for folks prone to addictive behavior, genetically or otherwise. As my grandfather said about quitting smoking, "You gotta make your mind up." He put an unopened cig pack in front of himself at his work, and it just sat there.

Moderate use requires one kind of self-control. Total abstinence might be easier - or the only workable path - for some.

 

[beersk]

This strikes me as key, especially for folks prone to addictive behavior, genetically or otherwise. As my grandfather said about quitting smoking, "You gotta make your mind up." He put an unopened cig pack in front of himself at his work, and it just sat there.

Moderate use requires one kind of self-control. Total abstinence might be easier - or the only workable path - for some.

This is true. I don't think total abstinence is necessarily the path for me. For a cousin of mine, it totally is. She is the kind of drinker that has to keep going until she is blackout drunk and on an almost daily basis. My whole family is worried about her. She's had a couple DUIs and lost several jobs. Thankfully she hasn't had any near-death occurrences or done anything horrible. But she's put herself in danger by going home with strangers. That right there is the kind of person that abstinence is necessary. Someone like me, or many of us here where we drink maybe 3 or 4 beers a day and 6 or 8 on the weekends isn't the kind of drinking that gets you in that kind of trouble. But, it does lead to negative health outcomes, no doubt. Cutting back is the way to go.
But it's easier said than done. When you slave over making an amazing meal do you have just one tiny little portion? Hell no, you eat until you're full. Or at least I do. What a boring life to constantly restrict yourself in such a way... I'm the same way with beer, but not just beer, EVERYTHING. If something is amazing, I don't usually just want to have "a healthy, fist-sized portion." But I also know when to stop typically.

 

[Clint Yeastwood]

My Uncle John was so bad, his son said he had to call him before 9 a.m. or he was incoherent. He used to keep an open bottle of J&B under his drivers' seat.

When he was drunk, he was a crying, self-pitying whiner. When he was sober, he was a vicious bully. Nobody misses him.

He was an interesting guy. He stole everything he could get his hands on. He also worked hard, and he ended up with a car dealership. One of the things that sunk him was employee theft. The parts people were selling parts out the back door. Kind of fitting. Then he became a high school shop teacher, and he used to mail his son stolen tools.