Would you still drink beer if it had no effect on you?

[Tweek]

I was listening to the news a bit ago and they were talking about how they think they found the gene that causes drunkeness in worms, they also think this is the same gene in humans. I figure the reason they are even trying to find this is the first place is for a cure to alcoholism. but it got me thinking. what if we just didnt have the gene that allowed us to get buzzed. I started asking myself if I would still drink beer. The answer I came up with was yes, but definately not as frequently. Quite honestly the buzz is an important part of it. I am not a fan of getting knock down drunk but I sure do like a good mellow buzz.

How about you guys? If the beer still tasted the same but had no effect on you would you still drink it?

[Fast_Eddy]

Originally posted by Tweek
I was listening to the news a bit ago and they were talking about how they think they found the gene that causes drunkeness in worms, they also think this is the same gene in humans. I figure the reason they are even trying to find this is the first place is for a cure to alcoholism. but it got me thinking. what if we just didnt have the gene that allowed us to get buzzed. I started asking myself if I would still drink beer. The answer I came up with was yes, but definately not as frequently. Quite honestly the buzz is an important part of it. I am not a fan of getting knock down drunk but I sure do like a good mellow buzz.

How about you guys? If the beer still tasted the same but had no effect on you would you still drink it?

I would still drink it but probably not by itself. Which is to say I would probably only drink it paired up with meals. Let's face it - nobody sits down and continiously drinks 7 pints of anything non-alcoholic.

Good question..

[S.F.B.]

Hell yes!

I enjoy the taste way more than the buzz. That's not to say that I don't like getting a buzz. I just don't drink for the sole purpose of getting drunk.

[brewmonkey]

I don't usually have more then 2 or 3 beers in an evening anyway so I would say yes I would still drink it.

[fretlessman71]

I have always said, and will continue to say... "If beer had no alcohol, and tasted exactly the same, I would drink nothing else."

Problem is, the reason I began drinking in the first place was BECAUSE of the buzz... would I have ever really developed a taste for it? Would any of us?

[GunNut76]

YES!

To me Beer=safe water...I absolutly hate the taste of city water and I need to boil it if I want to drink it...and that point begs the question; What do you drink if you can't have beer? For me it is tea...I dislike coffee.

[wortchillergoal]

Yes for a number of reasons with one important one being

BEER CAN BE FOOD, BUT FOOD CAN NEVER BE BEER.

[hopjack13]

for sure! i love the taste of beer! it's not sweet like sugar drinks, i love milk too for the same reason and can sit down and have two or three pints of milk no pro-blame-oh. but the buzz is something i like to , not getting trashed , but just enough to get the shoulders to drop and to smooth out those rough edges. relax and have a few. it's a good thing.

[Herb Ninja]

Good question Tweek.

I would drink lambic just as much, what can I say I like it for the taste. On the other hand, I wouldn't drink other beers anymore. Maybe every month or two id have a stout or porter, but for the most part a beer buzz is one of my prime objectives when I drink beer. Maybe in areas where the safeness of the water is questionable I would drink beer, but for the most part, nope. I guess i'm not hardcore. Peace, HN-

[Brownbeard]

Got to go with the Ninja on this one. I would probably not drink beer with any regularity without alcohol. I like beer, but without the buzz, I will go for a coke.

[hops99]

To me, it would depend on the circumstance. There are plenty of beers that I would still drink at home, but if I were out with the guys, I'd be drinking something alcoholic. I mean, a group of old college buddies sitting around playing cards while drinking orange juice just doesn't seem right...

[ray m]

Yes, I would still drink it. Like Brewmonkey, I usually don't have more than 2 or 3 at one time, whenever I'm drinking more than 1.

[Tweek]

My first thought was to say no. Then I started to think about the alternatives. I would have to say that I like the taste of beer just as much as say soda. Though I dont drink soda often. I think it would just go to be a drink that like fast eddy said is paired with certain foods or with certain moods.

[Herb Ninja]

I would drink beer that didn't give you a buzz any day over soda. One exception to that, id much rather have a real ginger ale or root beer soda, like the micro brew types of those sodas. Unlike Brownbeard, I don't like cola beverages. Peace, HN-

[Tweek]

actually, I didnt mean to say that I like beer just as much as soda, what I was meaning is that I would be just as likely to drink it as anything else, I suppose. I really really really like beer. To be honest I am not sure if I would still think of it as a superior drink if it didnt produce a buzz.

[b3s]

yes! i enjoy the complexity of flavors that malts and hops bring...i probably wouldn't drink as much but i'd drink it all the same...i always felt the buzz was just a plus to drinking something that i enjoyed.

[steveh]

I guess that if you think about tasting that fiirst beer of the night, how good it goes down and how good it makes you feel - and that you probably aren't buzzed at that point (at least not this group) - yeah, that would be a nice feeling to have all the time.

But I wonder if not feeling the effects of the alcohol would also diminish the relaxing effect of downing a few and talking with friends at the local, and you'd just get bloated-full? I've always thought that if NA beer tasted the same as regular beer, I'd probably drink it more often...but maybe not?

S.

[threecb]

I enjoy the taste of a nice hoppy ale. If it tasted exactly the same, sans buzz, I'd probably drink that more than soda. I drink to much soda anyway!

[Jeff]

Let's face it - nobody sits down and continiously drinks 7 pints of anything non-alcoholic.

I think college students during finals week might disqualify that. I got bored once in college and figured out that after six 20oz bottles of Mt. Dew I had consumed one 1lb of sugar. BTW, 6 Mt Dews seems to have the same hangover effects as 6 BMC.

[chazwicke]

I would definitely still drink it. I, like several of you, usually only have one or two an evening. If I am going out I often drink a lower alcohol beer such as Guinness for the session. I occasionally like to get "relaxed" but I can not remember the last time I was drunk. In the UK, I prefer milds. This is usually the only season I drink the big beers. I rarely drink soda. Never drink milk.

[BREWERDLUX]

I would be able to drink at work!!!!! How cool would that be.....?
I agree with many here that I would still drink, but not as much. I think? Who knows, a guy might walk around with an ale instead of a coke.

[skahtboi]

Yes. I would most certainly drink beer even if it had no effect on me, since it never does. I don't like the loss of control that I feel when I get intoxicated, so I never do. Therefore, I guess that you could say I DO drink beer even though it has no effect on my, even though, of course, the potential is always there for it to have some effect.

[hopjack13]

Originally posted by chazwicke
. I occasionally like to get "relaxed" but I can not remember the last time I was drunk.

thats because alcohol doesn't have any effect on you..you had sugery for that remember ;)

[Fast_Eddy]

This whole threads begs the question:

"If beer didn't have alcohol in it, would it ever have persisted as a beverage?"

It's my take on the history of beer that those ancient peoples that first drank it perceived it as "magical"(made them happy, smarter, funnier, etc) as a direct result of the alcohol content. IMO, if beer didn't affect us - it wouldn't even be a beverage today.

[chazwicke]

Originally posted by hopjack13
thats because alcohol doesn't have any effect on you..you had sugery for that remember ;)


Er....oh..um.... YES Yes! When I was in Morrocco.

[L.H.H.H.Brown]

Sugery in Morrocco. Now there's one for ya. Hope everything came out o.k. I tend to agree with most here. If it din't have alcohol I would drink less. I don't really drink sodas. I feel I would drink double IPAs a whole lot more if they couldn't flatten me. I, unfortunately, elected to not have the sugery.:(

[adbachtell]

Yes I still would drink even with out any effects. There are a few NAs out there that taste o.k. Alcoholism is an addiction. The dictionary defines it as "continued excessive or compulsive use of alcholic drinks." So it seems that the ability to get buzzed is not in the genes but in the interaction of the chemistry of the beer and our bodies. To prevent beer from having an effect on out bodies they would have to alter the chemistry of beer. Not our genes. And I for one do enjoy having to once in a while hang on to the grass to keep from falling off the Earth(AKA having to check my license to remember my name.) Not as much as in my youth. It seems my body is starting to enjoy punishing me for my nights of excess.

[Bryant]

I would definitely still drink beer if it tasted the same with no alcohol, but probably 10% less often. When I started drinking beer, I drank it to get drunk. As time passed and I started acquiring a taste for the better beers, my "lifestyle" changed as well and getting a "buzz" became more common than getting "drunk." Now my "typical" consumption is about three beers as I appreciate quality over quantity. Having said that, once in a while, I get the ole' "wild hair....." and I knock down ten beers or so at a sitting and have absolutely no remorse about it.

Bryant

[Tweek]

Fast_Eddy

"This whole threads begs the question:

"If beer didn't have alcohol in it, would it ever have persisted as a beverage?"

It's my take on the history of beer that those ancient peoples that first drank it perceived it as "magical"(made them happy, smarter, funnier, etc) as a direct result of the alcohol content. IMO, if beer didn't affect us - it wouldn't even be a beverage today."


I highly doubt that it would be around actually. It is my understanding that it was an accident that happened after leaving some seet tea out and some wild yeasties getting in and working their magic. My guess is that the stuff tasted awful. With the exception of lambics how many of us actually enjoy infected beers. I think if the people didnt get high from it they would have just moved on, vowing to never waste their tea again. I guess it would really depend on the way those first few "mistakes" tasted. interesting

[chazwicke]

Don't forget beer was a safe alternative to the foul water most people had available. So it was consumed instead of water. Even the children drank it. That is one of the reasons beer is considered to be one of the building blocks to civilization.

[Tweek]

true but I believe it was safe because of the alcohol, which killed the germs. so no alcohol and that would not have been a factor.

[brewmonkey]

But there would most likely have always been alcohol as beer back then was spontaniously fermented. They did not find out about yeast doing it's job till much later on.

[Tweek]

hehe yeah true brewmonkey. This was more of a what if type scenario. We know how the whole beer thing worked out. This is more if the byproduct of fermentation or any process did not create alcohol in beer would it still be around as a drink and if so would you drink it?

[hopjack13]

Originally posted by Tweek
true but I believe it was safe because of the alcohol, which killed the germs.

actually ....as i understand it , the boiling of the water made it safe for consumption by sterilization, and not so much becuase of the alcohol content.
but i think you right, when beer was first discoverd it must have been a very crude form of beer. therefore if not for the intoxicating nature of it it probably wouldn't have made it this far. i can't even imagine what it tasted like 4000 years ago, bud would've been a godsent!

[wortchillergoal]

Originally posted by Tweek
hehe yeah true brewmonkey. This was more of a what if type scenario. We know how the whole beer thing worked out. This is more if the byproduct of fermentation or any process did not create alcohol in beer would it still be around as a drink and if so would you drink it?

I may have misunderstood the question. I read it as beer still has the alcohol, but it will not affect you. Beer would not taste the same if there was no alcohol. I point to the fact that there is really not a great tasting NA beer on the market.

[skahtboi]

Now....going back to the original post in this thread, I wonder just how in the hell you can tell when a worm is drunk. I have drunk the worm before, but never seen a drunk worm!

[Tweek]

lol that was my thought too. There is an article on this on the front page of realbeer heres a link for ya.

http://www.realbeer.com/news/articles/news-002092.php