What's your relationship with alcohol? — Is it a good one? Could use some work? Or, completely unhealthy? — November 2017, I was in Singapore for 2 weeks for business. From previous trips I knew a lot of the vegan/vegetarian restaurants did not serve alcohol. Leading up to this trip I had for some time been considering stopping drinking altogether. So I figured this trip would be a perfect chance to try it out. — Prior to this trip, I had cut back on my drinking while my wife was pregnant and limited myself going forward after that point. — And let me tell you, I felt amazing during those 2 weeks. I recall getting out for pre-work runs and feeling great, day over day. A lot of people have a similar feeling when first going whole food, plant based (vegan). It was really interesting to have that feeling even 4+ years after going plant based with my wife. So I knew this was the right change for me. Plus there was a run across Singapore (north to south) in there, but more on that in another post. — I continued to not drink after coming back home*. Though I had my apprehension of going out with friends, etc. and not drinking those situations. But honestly, and I have great friends, they would ask in an inquisitive way but respect my decision. Plus, I found you really don't need it to have fun. — *I should also note that after that two weeks on 3 separate occasions I did try a glass of wine, a beer, and a scotch, just to see. And sure enough I did not feel 100% the next morning even after one drink. Throw on top of that getting up early for my child and the drinking to me was not worth it. Though it wasn’t until April 2018, at my good friends bachelor party, that I had my last drink - a shot of whiskey. Don’t know why outside of his uncle had ordered a round as a cheers and it was set in front of me. Though up to and later that night I passed on drinks or set them for others. — Now Jan. 2019 and still alcohol free, and feeling great! — Question: Is alcohol free beer cheating? — I would say no, as the alcohol content is either 0.0% ABV or 0.4% ABV or less, which is comparable to fruit juice. I also don’t have a similar negative relationship with it.
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Two of my favourites so far are are Heineken's and Erdinger's non-alcoholic offerings. The Erdinger is a solid German beer and this one does not disappoint. I recall a long time ago trying Heineken and hating it. Granted this was around when I first started drinking, and after that was never a big lager fan. So I was a bit apprehensive of this one. Though it is actually really good and quite nice. Nothing fancy or earth shattering, just a nice, refreshing drink. Here is Australia, Carlton recently released a non-alcoholic beer as well. It is still Carlton, which is alright, BUT it's a great price at our local Woolies (Woolworth's) at $10 for a 6-pack. So for the price, I go for this a lot but again there are better tasting options, and I can think of one worst I've tried: Hollandia. Stay away from Hollandia, it's really sweet. Though with a couple dashes of bitters it helps balance it out. But yeah, go with another option.