# You absolutely do not drink. Can you have 1/2 % beer? **URL:** \ **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:** 5\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![beergeek279](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7ea924/32.png) [@beergeek279](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beergeek279)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2005, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-absolutely-do-not-drink-can-you-have-1-2-beer/324495/41 "2005-10-04T20:18:25Z")
> [@Qadgop the Mercotan](#): > > Non-alcoholic beer is for non-alcoholics. Well, non-alcoholics don’t seem to care much for them either…so who are they for in the long run??? ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2005, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-absolutely-do-not-drink-can-you-have-1-2-beer/324495/42 "2005-10-04T20:54:33Z")
I don’t drink. I’ve tasted some wines and beers and stuff, and I have come to the conclusion that beer should be poured back inside the horse. That’s why I wouldn’t drink any of the fake beers, either. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2005, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-absolutely-do-not-drink-can-you-have-1-2-beer/324495/43 "2005-10-04T21:07:30Z")
> [@](#): > > Don’t be a snark. Obviously 0.5% alcohol is considered absolutely nonalcoholic for regulation and taxation purposes. IIRC children may possess and consume it. Not true. Minors are not allowed to purchase “non-alcoholic” beer, as I discovered once as a teenager in the grocery store with Mom. She had run out to the car for some coupons, leaving me in line with, among other things, a sixpack of O’Doules. I had to wait there until she got back, because I was not allowed to buy it. Also, of course, there’s also another category of teetotallers, those who don’t drink for physiological reasons. I’m alcohol-intolerant, to the point that a tiny sip of wine is enough to make me nauseous. I don’t know if .5% beer would be enough to set me off. Nor am I eager to find out, since I don’t like being nauseous. So it’s an easy decision for me. ---
**Author:** ![Amaranta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Amaranta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amaranta)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2005, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-absolutely-do-not-drink-can-you-have-1-2-beer/324495/44 "2005-10-04T22:16:15Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Not true. Minors are not allowed to purchase “non-alcoholic” beer, as I discovered once as a teenager in the grocery store with Mom. She had run out to the car for some coupons, leaving me in line with, among other things, a sixpack of O’Doules. I had to wait there until she got back, because I was not allowed to buy it. Hmmm. When I worked in a grocery store a couple of years ago, we could sell non-alcoholic beer or cider to anyone who wanted it, regardless of age. ---
**Author:** ![lisacurl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/41988e/32.png) [@lisacurl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisacurl)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2005, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-absolutely-do-not-drink-can-you-have-1-2-beer/324495/45 "2005-10-04T22:39:47Z")
I guess I’ll chime in as another Doper in recovery – 14 years sober in June. I wouldn’t drink very low alcohol beers in my early years of recovery, but they weren’t widely available then and I never was a beer drinker. I think I’ve had maybe 12 in the last six or seven years, and that was at least three or four years ago. It’s not a matter of triggers or anything like that, just that I’d rather have a Diet Coke when it gets right down to it. I respect everyone’s viewpoints on this. I think you’ll find that there is a range of responses among recovering alcoholics on this. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-absolutely-do-not-drink-can-you-have-1-2-beer/324495.md?page=2)