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he impossibrew looks interesting, but wasn’t sure if that was just an IG ad scam
Yeah I was of that opinion. It came up with 50% off and another 10% for first purchase so I gave it a go. The Pale Ale is really good, the lager is a bit meh. As for the fabled 'buzz', I dunno I drank 2 and it wasn't obvious to me, and even at the discounted price I wasn't going to carry on. Seems like a way to get you to drink more! If the pale ale was the same price or a bit more than equivalents from other brewery's, I'd get some more but at list, no way.
Local craft haunt always has a LA option on tap
Our local has Clearhead from the Bristol Beer Factory on tap and it's excellent.
I've just ordered a starter mix pack of impossibrew, but didn't get a money-off thing. I'll see how it goes. I was having a new year good intentions moment and ordered a stick blender too thinking i am going to make lots of soup. I'll see how well that goes too 😉
I've did it the last couple of years and honestly not felt any different.
I think it's my niece's head wetting this month but until then I'll probably stay dry.
I'm still on Dry January 2024. It took me a long time (30+ years) of drinking to realise it wasn't for me. Glad I got there in the end. Good luck to those giving it a go this year.
Mid-ride pint in a good pub and/or a bivi flask are still on the table, just no booze in the house. One needs to maintain a sense of perspective regarding such matters.
I started a dryanuary 20 years ago today and am still going strong. It was a particularly pissy Xmas and New Year that year and obviously had a profound effect on me. I don't regret it especially when listening to pissed up bores telling the same story for the fifth time but at ever greater volume. I may well have been that bore...
If there was any evidence required for why I'm doing it, my state of mind yesterday and today (following NYE) has been appalling!
I'm in 3 months and looking for longer. drinking way to much last year and topped off with a 4am finish and now 2 day hangover. On nye .
im 46 , piled on 10kg last year .. hardly rode .. its effecting work , personal relationships mental health and generally holding me back .
Time to take back control.
"I may well have been that bore…"
It's a sobering thought and one I have had more than once.
I'm starting on Tuesday when I head back to work. Drinking too much, and would like to shift a few kilos too.
I’ve been involuntary doing dry January and dry December as I’ve been absolutely full of man-flu, which I can’t seem to shift, and have been mainlining lemsip instead of the more usual Malbec.
However, I fully intend to make up for that and get seriously on it once I’m feeling human again. Someone has to compensate for you lot and keep the pubs in business 😀
The Mash has a timely reminder of the horrors that await you and I suspect that most of us fall into the catagory of ‘Steve’ in the first paragraph anyway
If the pubs responded to the changing behaviour of a lot of people they would perhaps do a bit better. It is still very difficult to find a good range of alcohol free drinks. Hull is perhaps an exception to this as there are several alcohol free pub crawls!
Went to a pub the other day and they had a local brewery non alcoholic on draft. It was great and they said it had sold really well. Definitely changing of attitudes.
Easy. I'm in.
I'd pretty much knocked drinking on the head for 4 months up to Christmas. I was drinking daily, get home from work, crack a bottle or two. Not a good habit to have. I did drink over Christmas but after a couple on NYE I'm going back to not drinking again. I did notice weight loss, less tummy issues and my mood was much better w/o booze. I also find that even just a couple of drinks make me crave utterly crap food.
I had already resolved to try and reduce my crisp intake, which is getting borderline self destructive! And since beer + crisps go hand in hand I might need to try and cut back on the beer.
My usual substitute is to enjoy my whisky collection instead but since that seems to go with oatcakes and cheese I'm not sure it's any healthier...
Tonic water w slice of lemon or lime works for me as a 6PM substitute.
This, I've found no better substitute than fizzy water with ice and a generous squeeze of lime, it has a bitterness and crispness that it much preferrable to the sort of malty sweetness of most AF beers...
Well, as expected, both my HRV and Sleep Score have improved by 10%-15% and my Resting HR dropping below 50 (so bit less than 5%) in the two days AF so far. It's depressing how bad alcohol is for you.
Already out, but was pondering "no drinking at home January" and I may do Dry February - found that works better for me before (and not just cos it's shorter!)
Kudos to anyone using it as an opportunity to reset or question their habits.
I'm in having had far too much over Christmas and only just feeling human again after a NYE party. Sleep score already improving and heart rate decreasing.
Last year never got going personally for a number of reasons, the biggest of which being my Son's major heart surgery in April, that we knew about coming in to 2024 and spent the rest of the year emotionally recovering from (he's fine now). Got plenty of goals to hit this year and having a much clearer head will help this so hopefully January will spur me on!
Well I'll be put to the test tonight, meeting up with the usual Tuesday night riding crew in the pub as we couldn't manage pre-Christmas. Thankfully I think Erdinger is on sale at the chosen venue. I'm so bloodyminded that I think I'll be fine lol
Wish me luck......
I did it last January with no bother at all. December 2024 was a heavy month for me with the first two weeks on holiday in Thailand for the missus 50th then Christmas so i'm dry until my birthday in March this year.
couldn't help think of this thread when I saw this 🙂
I've not done dry Jan before but I'm off the booze as I've not been well and want to give my stomach a rest. I quite fancy a zero Guinness
Are alcohol free beers full of carbs and calories like normal beer?
Are alcohol free beers full of carbs and calories like normal beer?
Yes, but there's the nutritional info on the bottle to give you an idea of how much weight you're gonna put on.
Thanks
Guinness Zero is a winner, it's definitely made the last year of sobriety easier when out with mates.
Well I survived a night in the pub thanks to Guinness Zero, it's great.
So nice to wake up without the cloudy headed feeling, and I didn't raid the fridge when I got in after midnight so it's a double win!
I’ve not had alcohol since May last year after cutting down incredibly for a year before that. After over fifty years of excessive drinking I decided enough was enough and I’ve now stopped. I’m in danger of becoming a bit like the ex-smoker who then becomes boringly(?) anti smoking but I won’t apologise. I now see drinking as a real problem in our society, deaths from road traffic collisions, increases in violence, relationship problems, various health problems are caused or made worse by alcohol - a poison. Drinking alcohol is widely openly encouraged and accepted in our society, from television presenters discussing with sports people how they’re going to “celebrate” to Jane McDonald talking how you have to have plenty to drink whilst cooking Christmas dinner, hangover cures are a perennial subject on daytime tv. Advertising also sells alcoholic products as a “cool” lifestyle and the “night time leisure industry” (pubs and clubs) rely on selling as much alcohol as possible, even to people who have obviously had enough. Alcoholism is seen as shameful, not the illness it is. It’s time we had some education programmes, stopped alcohol companies advertising - everywhere - like for smoking. I hope dry January is the start of better health for many of you, for those who only drink small amounts and not very often I hope that carries on, for those of you, like me, who drank too much I hope that you can stop. The main benefit that I found (I’ve always been able to sleep on a clothes line) is that I feel free! These two articles below may help, one describes the effect that alcohol has on your brain and the other is from the USA where alcohol is the third largest cause of cancers after smoking and obesity. Good luck y’all!
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2023/may/24/the-truth-about-booze-how-alcohol-really-affects-your-body-from-first-flush-of-happiness-to-hangover-hell?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/03/alcohol-cancer-link-preventable-cause
Is anyone planning longer than January?
As above, I intend to carry on!
Is anyone planning longer than January?
Not me. I'll be gargling on it on the 1st February.
Is anyone planning longer than January?
Yeah, March maybe my birthday, but that's midweek and not a significant one, so who knows. [shrugs emoji]
I'm currently on Day 4 (in the big brotherhouse) and woke this morning with an all mighty headache.
On the plus side, I slept really deeply last night.
I may continue past January, would like to, but will see how I fare.
I’m not an alcoholic but over the last two or three years I noticed that my binge drinking has increased massively. Pretty much every Friday at 6pm I’m either in the pub or opened my first can of beer at home. Going to the pub I would regularly drink 5 pints of Guinness and an equal number of shorts. Saturday I would have maybe three beers and a half a bottle of wine, quite often also finished off with a couple of shorts. I’ve put on at least three stone. Most weekends I’ve had terrible sleep and hangovers.
This weekend has been my first alcohol free weekend for years. I did really fancy a beer after work on Friday, but was made easier by me not making any plans to see friends etc.
I've slept well and had dreams every night which is rare for me, think 5 days without alcohol is a record since Covid, did a big run yesterday with parkrun in the middle and feel quite a bit better than I would have today with recovery beers - so far so good haven't really missed it and keen to see the positives, also probably £30 richer which I'm putting to one side as further motivation.
Great to hear the positive progress stories.
I had a clean sheet of PBs on Itza Climb finish route on Zwift yesterday incl best ever power output for an hour. Just shows the negative impact of alcohol on body system performance..
clean sheet of PBs on Itza Climb finish route on Zwift yesterday
Hoping to see an increased rate of progression on TR in the next few weeks! Sleep is still much improved according to my scores.
Impossibrew is OK, no difference to others as far as I can tell and no buzz. Have been getting stocks of asahi, Heineken and lucky saint in, as well as tom juice and celery for this week's 6pm moments
Worried however I might have blown it as we found a pot of brandy sauce at the back of the fridge and needed eating before tomorrow.....
I’m on antibiotics for an abscess so not had any alcohol yet this year. Another two days I’ll have the tooth out followed by another two days to finish off the antibiotics. I’m gonna stick it out for as long as I can.
Usually have a beer after our usual Wednesday night ride, so no pressure to have a beer until the 15th Jan.
Is anyone planning longer than January?
Gonna see how it goes.
I stayed off anything this weekend - one mild craving on Saturday but didn't get close to cracking at all.
I've had a few AF beers which has been nice.
Annoyingly I've picked up a bit of a cold somewhere. Banging head.
I've actually felt worse today than if I had been drinking! Oh well...
Tried a Days (0%) Lager. The other three cans in the fridge are going down the sink. Truly awful. Should have stuck with Free Damm.
I've accidentally been doing dry January. Having a month of my Friday vino and knackered myself out so much on Saturday on a 3 hour hill Zwift climb I didn't make it down the pub.
Near the bottom of an 8.2abv Belgian ale, one of those an evening I think is about as close as I get to a dry January.
Only three days so far for me, worrying that it feels like an accomplishment! 😆
No real positive effects to report yet, caved yesterday and finished off a bag of crisps I found in the cupboard, then realised today was VO2 day on the turbo so unlikely to notice any improvement with a bunch of fried salt circulating in my bloodstream 🙄
Might try and keep it going until my one CX race of the year 2nd March, maybe even spend the money I'm saving on some beetroot shots instead!
I’ve had a few AF beers which has been nice*
Annoyingly I’ve picked up a bit of a cold somewhere. Banging head.
I’ve actually felt worse today than if I had been drinking! Oh well…
I’m with el boufador here, not only do I feel worse, but I can’t sleep either! sad emoji ?
*Bought some Guinness 00 after the recommendations.