# You absolutely do not drink. Can you have 1/2 % beer?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-absolutely-do-not-drink-can-you-have-1-2-beer/324495
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [October 2, 2005, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-absolutely-do-not-drink-can-you-have-1-2-beer/324495 "2005-10-02T23:08:25Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)
#### Post date: [October 2, 2005, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-absolutely-do-not-drink-can-you-have-1-2-beer/324495/1 "2005-10-02T23:08:25Z")
If you don’t drink alcohol, either because you’re a recovering alcoholic, or because of religious reasons, would or could you drink O’Doul’s, Sharp’s, or similar .5% alcohol beers? Would you want to?
If it’s for religious reasons, does your religion allow it?
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### Author:  [@MizGrand](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MizGrand)
#### Post date: [October 2, 2005, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-absolutely-do-not-drink-can-you-have-1-2-beer/324495/2 "2005-10-02T23:10:56Z")
> [@Spectre of Pithecanthropus](#):
>
> If you don’t drink alcohol, either because you’re a recovering alcoholic, or because of religious reasons, would or could you drink O’Doul’s, Sharp’s, or similar .5% alcohol beers? Would you want to?
> If it’s for religious reasons, does your religion allow it?
15-year recovering alkie here. **NO WAY!** For the longest time I wouldn’t even lick my fingers if they got vanilla extract on them.
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### Author:  [@VernWinterbottom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VernWinterbottom)
#### Post date: [October 2, 2005, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-absolutely-do-not-drink-can-you-have-1-2-beer/324495/3 "2005-10-02T23:16:52Z")
I’m really not sure why one would drink “beer” with virtually no alcohol anyway, but that’s beside the point.
I have no idea whether or not .5% beer would cause a relapse or not. After not drinking for 17 years, I don’t think that trying it would be worth the risk.
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### Author:  [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)
#### Post date: [October 2, 2005, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-absolutely-do-not-drink-can-you-have-1-2-beer/324495/4 "2005-10-02T23:21:17Z")
> [@Spectre of Pithecanthropus](#):
>
> If you don’t drink alcohol, either because you’re a recovering alcoholic, or because of religious reasons, would or could you drink O’Doul’s, Sharp’s, or similar .5% alcohol beers? Would you want to?
>
> If it’s for religious reasons, does your religion allow it?
dmld: 3/12/90
My abstinence is AA-related, not religious, and since stopping regular beer and booze, I have drunk some of those ‘nonalcoholic’ beers now and then. But once I had two in a row, got a buzz on and stopped that stuff completely and for a long time.
Now I might have one or two a summer. Hackebacke (or however it’s spelled) tastes quite good.
At Mass, I take a sip of the sacramental wine, with no ill effects, never feeling I have violated my personal contract.
I found smoking was much, much more difficult to quit than drinking.
If you’re trying to stay off the sauce, I wish you well.
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### Author:  [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)
#### Post date: [October 2, 2005, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-absolutely-do-not-drink-can-you-have-1-2-beer/324495/5 "2005-10-02T23:27:52Z")
Before 3/12/90, I was doing ~2 big jugs of vodka per week, and 2-3 packs of smokes per day. Took until Jan/Feb 2000 to quit smoking, though, and I had to have pharmaceutical help. (Zyban)
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### Author:  [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)
#### Post date: [October 2, 2005, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-absolutely-do-not-drink-can-you-have-1-2-beer/324495/6 "2005-10-02T23:33:08Z")
> [@Spectre of Pithecanthropus](#):
>
> If you don’t drink alcohol, either because you’re a recovering alcoholic, or because of religious reasons, would or could you drink O’Doul’s, Sharp’s, or similar .5% alcohol beers? Would you want to?
No. Why should I? I follow the KISS method (Keep It Simple, Stupid) and that would be a complication.
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### Author:  [@Fridgemagnet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fridgemagnet)
#### Post date: [October 2, 2005, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-absolutely-do-not-drink-can-you-have-1-2-beer/324495/7 "2005-10-02T23:34:43Z")
IIRC, alcoholics in recovery programmes should abstain from all forms of alcohol, including ‘hidden’ sources like certain perfumes or cosmetics applied externally.
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### Author:  [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)
#### Post date: [October 2, 2005, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-absolutely-do-not-drink-can-you-have-1-2-beer/324495/8 "2005-10-02T23:55:02Z")
Non-alcoholic beer is for non-alcoholics.
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### Author:  [@Hokkaido\_Brit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hokkaido_Brit)
#### Post date: [October 3, 2005, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-absolutely-do-not-drink-can-you-have-1-2-beer/324495/9 "2005-10-03T00:13:17Z")
I absolutely do not drink because I use medication which reacts badly with alcohol. I have been sick as sick as sick from one or two sips of red wine, so I wouldn’t dare to try even very low alcohol stuff.
No alcohol is no alcohol.
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### Author:  [@yBeayf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yBeayf)
#### Post date: [October 3, 2005, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-absolutely-do-not-drink-can-you-have-1-2-beer/324495/10 "2005-10-03T00:26:48Z")
Former Muslim here, and Islam doesn’t allow _any_ amount of alcohol to be knowingly consumed. There are even legal rulings forbidding the use of perfume or cologne made with alcohol. Religiously speaking, if you know there’s even the tiniest bit of ethanol in that drink, you can’t drink it unless you’re in danger of death.
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### Author:  [@BMax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMax)
#### Post date: [October 3, 2005, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-absolutely-do-not-drink-can-you-have-1-2-beer/324495/11 "2005-10-03T01:07:24Z")
11 years clean in NA. Occasionally I will have one or two but only with meals. I have gone out and bought a six pack of them on occasion, but by time I finish two I want some real beer. I know that by time I finish a real beer I will want some other type of buzz, so I only drink one or maybe two with a meal at a restaurant.
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### Author:  [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)
#### Post date: [October 3, 2005, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-absolutely-do-not-drink-can-you-have-1-2-beer/324495/12 "2005-10-03T02:38:36Z")
> [@VernWinterbottom](#):
>
> I’m really not sure why one would drink “beer” with virtually no alcohol anyway, but that’s beside the point.
>
> .
Actually that’s what made me wonder about this. I do drink alcohol, but regular beer has been something I have had little desire to drink lately. Yet, strange as it seems, I like the .5% brews, which I have once in awhile, much as I would have a soda. I like the feeling of “beery refreshment” without the shot of booze.
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### Author:  [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)
#### Post date: [October 3, 2005, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-absolutely-do-not-drink-can-you-have-1-2-beer/324495/13 "2005-10-03T03:03:14Z")
> [@Spectre of Pithecanthropus](#):
>
> Actually that’s what made me wonder about this. I do drink alcohol, but regular beer has been something I have had little desire to drink lately. Yet, strange as it seems, I like the .5% brews, which I have once in awhile, much as I would have a soda. I like the feeling of “beery refreshment” without the shot of booze.
To expand on this a bit, I should point out that my opinion of .5% beer used to be much the same as **Vern** ’s, but that’s changed to the point where I do like the taste of it. Paradoxically, regular beer is no longer my “drink” drink, and I almost never have it.
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### Author:  [@xash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xash)
#### Post date: [October 3, 2005, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-absolutely-do-not-drink-can-you-have-1-2-beer/324495/14 "2005-10-03T04:13:22Z")
Moved to IMHO.
- **xash**
General Questions Moderator
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### Author:  [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)
#### Post date: [October 3, 2005, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-absolutely-do-not-drink-can-you-have-1-2-beer/324495/15 "2005-10-03T04:27:31Z")
I hope this isn’t a hijack, but for those of you who answered “no,” do you avoid other sources of minute amounts of alcohol, like bananas and orange juice? I ask because I often run into parents who are appalled at the idea of giving their kids tinctures with small amounts of alcohol in them (less than cough syrup,) yet my understanding is that the orange juice they serve at breakfast has more naturally occuring alcohol in it than the medicine. I’ve never been able to get my head around that one. Thoughts?
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### Author:  [@fifty-six](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fifty-six)
#### Post date: [October 3, 2005, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-absolutely-do-not-drink-can-you-have-1-2-beer/324495/16 "2005-10-03T04:30:37Z")
Seven years sober here.
For me it is fine. I drink one on rare occasions.
As for the question; Why drink the stuff? It is a pleasant beverage. Just about as simple as that.
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### Author:  [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)
#### Post date: [October 3, 2005, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-absolutely-do-not-drink-can-you-have-1-2-beer/324495/17 "2005-10-03T04:38:10Z")
14 years sober. I do not knowingly put alcohol in my body. ( includes mouthwash and over the counter medicines and some foods. ) It is not about the alcohol anymore, it is about the choice.
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### Author:  [@NoPretentiousCodename](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoPretentiousCodename)
#### Post date: [October 3, 2005, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-absolutely-do-not-drink-can-you-have-1-2-beer/324495/18 "2005-10-03T04:42:38Z")
A friend of a friend knew some Mormons down in Texas. For these particular individuals, sitting down in the living room and cracking open a cold one was so much a part of their lifestyle that they switched to O’Douls when they converted to Mormonism. As I recall, the f.o.a.f. mentioned that this was quite common for (some) Mormons in that region and was not considered (by the drinkers) to be against the religion.
Not a first hand account, but there you have it.
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### Author:  [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)
#### Post date: [October 3, 2005, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-absolutely-do-not-drink-can-you-have-1-2-beer/324495/19 "2005-10-03T05:24:48Z")
I’m LDS, and wouldn’t drink it. But then, I’ve never been able to understand why anyone would want to try beer, as it smells awful to me. And why give money to brewers? Probably some Mormons do drink the stuff, though I don’t know any.
OTOH, I’ll take NyQuil if I’m sick. I have no problem with that.
I had no idea that (or if) there is naturally occuring alcohol in bananas or OJ, but I can’t see getting worked up about it. Is it detectable? Is it affecting me adversely? If not, why worry?
I won’t cook with wine or beer–some Mormons will–but all the alcohol does not cook out, and I don’t like the taste anyway. I use vanilla (again, why worry?)
The LDS commandment is to avoid alcohol, but you’re supposed to use your mind and your common sense. (Thus some people will drink near-beer and consider it OK, while others will not. You get to make up your own mind.) It’s not, BTW, that alcohol is inherently evil, but that this is a commandment for right now.
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### Author:  [@Sengkelat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sengkelat)
#### Post date: [October 3, 2005, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-absolutely-do-not-drink-can-you-have-1-2-beer/324495/20 "2005-10-03T06:05:38Z")
I don’t drink alcohol because I don’t like the taste. While faux beer gets around that problem, I find I also don’t like the taste of beer. So no bogus brew for me.
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