Can you get your husband to drink non alcoholic beer?
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Early on a Saturday evening this past spring I heard my phone ping with a text from my husband. When I opened it, I knew I had him. ‘Wow, the Gruvi Golden is awesome!’ He had just opened a new non alcoholic beer by the well-loved alcohol free brand Gruvi and was enamoured with it. Confirmation for me that my year-long experiment has been successful. My research query: Can you get your husband to switch over to non alcoholic beer? It looks like the answer is yes.
If you take a step back and look at the past two years, men’s drinking actually decreased during the pandemic [1] which is the opposite of what happened for women. This is good news since traditionally men’s drinking habits on average tend to be more excessive than their female counterparts. [2] From a health standpoint, reducing alcohol consumption is a sound strategy for the men in our lives. Drinking is associated with multiple risks to men, including accidents, sexual and reproductive issues, heart conditions and cancers more common in men such as liver, colon, esophagus and prostate. [3][4]
Last summer, Some Good Clean Fun team member Helena swapped her prosecco for some of the amazing alcohol-free drinks options available and noticed a rapid improvement in her anxiety as well as a decrease in headaches and migraines. Her husband John’s first reaction was supportive but amused: “Here goes my wife on another self-improvement project!”
John had been working on getting healthier over the pandemic lockdowns and had heard a few things about the negative health effects of too much alcohol, especially as we approach middle age and beyond. Additionally, with socialising off the table for a while, he’d been drinking less and had gotten used to clear-headed early morning hikes and bike rides which he didn’t want to sacrifice to sluggishness or hangovers anymore.
It didn’t take long for him (always an enthusiast about trying new things) to get curious about the new drinks coming into the house and what options might be out there for him too.
Luckily, the alcohol free drinks industry has been booming, providing a plethora of options for men looking to improve their health. And it’s not just because of those who have quit alcohol altogether - in fact, many consumers of alcohol free products (like our husbands) are using a ‘hybrid’ model and combining favourite alcoholic beverages with alcohol free alternatives. [5] This approach enables a reduction in overall alcohol consumption while allowing consumers to enjoy all the drinks they love - alcoholic and non-alcoholic alike.
When I asked my own husband for his thoughts on his ‘conversion’ to the dark side, as he calls it, I got a joke as usual. Holding up a Harmon’s Jack Pine can, he says:
“The thing that I love about Harmon’s is that it goes great with a shot of vodka….”
He wasn’t serious. But being Russian, he grew up in a culture that wears its vodka prowess like a badge of honour. Questioning drinking is not really a thing for a Russian man to do, even when it’s harmful to their health.
I actually didn’t plan on making him choose non alcoholic so it truly happened organically. As my alcohol consumption went up over the years, so too did his as I always threw a six-pack into the cart to make sure it didn’t look like the booze was all for me. Early on in my rethinking drinking journey I permanently stopped going out to buy wine and/or walking down the grocery store aisle with the drinks. I was really only thinking about myself, but his flow of craft beer suddenly stopped. Too lazy to go to the Beer Store on his own, he started grabbing a can from the mountains of non alcoholic beers I had lying around the house.
Over the past year, I’ve purposefully left non alcoholic beers in the fridge for him, varying the styles and brands to help him find what he might like. It seems to be working.
Helena’s husband John made the conscious choice himself, and decided to try a few different alcohol free beers and quickly found some new favourites - Libra’s Hazy IPA, Corona Sunbrew, Neal Brothers Lager and Partake Pale Ale to name a few.
The global alcohol free beer market alone is expected to grow a whooping 9.8% in 2022, to almost $18.3 billion, with no signs of slowing down.[6] In Canada, there is an enormous range of alcohol free beer options available in any style you might like, from reliable easy drinking lagers to trendy IPAs. Microbreweries and large beer producers alike are getting in on this growing segment leaving us spoiled for choice this Father’s Day.
John still drinks, but says “now it’s got to have a purpose” - be it an Old-Fashioned to kick off an evening out with old friends, or a ceremonial shot to toast someone’s birthday. Then, more often than not, he’s happy to switch to a non-alcoholic beer to get the best of both worlds with the full social experience and the improvements in health and energy.
As for my own husband, I know that he’s not permanently alcohol-free like me but more often than not I find non alcoholic empties in the kitchen in the morning. My stock dwindles without me noticing often, and suddenly he’s asking me for more of the brands that he likes. So just like when your kids eat their peas without asking, I don’t make a big deal about it. I just nod and say sure honey. And silently giggle with glee!
Happy Fathering Day to all!
Sources:
[1] https://www.rand.org/news/press/2022/01/24.html
[2]https://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/fact-sheets/mens-health.htm
[3]https://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/fact-sheets/mens-health.htm
[4]https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/alcohol-and-heart-health-separating-fact-from-fiction
[5]Forbes
