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hardcore_gamer

Can 2.2% beer make you alcoholic?

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So I really really love beer. Problem is, that drinking too much of it isn't good for you because of the alcohol. However, in my country there is this thing called léttöl or "light ale" which unlike normal beer (alcohol can only be sold in special state owned stores in my country with a few exceptions) can be legally sold and bought in stores because of it's low alcohol content. In order for a drink to be considered a form of light ale it needs to have alcohol content no more than 2.2%, which is pretty much the exact amount that most low alcohol beers that you can buy in stores have.

I have been told that because of the low alcohol content its basically impossible (or at least very difficult) to actually get drunk of these beers. But even if so, this is still alcohol so it still harms your liver doesn't it? Could I get away with drinking 3-4 pints a day of this stuff without harming my liver or getting alcoholism?

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Man, what is it with you and all these drink threads? You recently made another alcohol thread and have made numerous threads in the past related to drinks.

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Alcoholism isn't like strep throat. You don't come down with a case of alcoholism after being exposed to alcoholic bacteria.

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buttspit said:

Man, what is it with you and all these drink threads? You recently made another alcohol thread and have made numerous threads in the past related to drinks.


Alcohol is a hobby of mine. Not in the sense that I drink too much of it, but in that I like reading about it and watch documentaries as well. I am looking for a way to drink more beer without consuming too much alcohol which is why I created the thread.

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You'd have to drink a lot of those to get really drunk. Your bladder will fail before your liver.

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a light beer or two is not going to kill you. you will piss a lot, however. now, if you were drinking similar amounts of hard-liquor, you'd probably be wildly intoxicated, but beer? nah.

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When considering the percentage, your bladder explodes before you even could consider yourself drunk.

Eh, others said it already.

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Seriously? 2. Fucking 2℅? No, I cannot see anyone becoming an alky by having a few pints of that a day. Heck, even a couple, (possibly even four), pints a night of 5.6/6.0 won't make you an alcoholic. Alcoholics I have seen (including a family one), have about 8 pints a day which is when you have to really start worrying, especially when it is 8.5%. Alcoholics are more prone to SHC too so if you don't want to internally combust, don't become one. Especially don't butt chugggmork them.

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Then again I read somewhere that Russia's traditional refreshment (not, not vodka), kvass, is mildly alcoholic (0.5%) and since everybody has been drinking it since childhood, it may be partially responsible for increased alcoholic tolerance/dependence and chronic alcoholism into adulthood.

Edit: here's the paper about it.

Getting drunk on it? Difficult, unless you have super-kidneys and a super-bladder and can process liters of the stuff, just like light ales. Chronic side effects....that's debatable.

hardcore_gamer said:

Alcohol is a hobby of mine ... I like reading about it and watch documentaries as well...


....while having a big, cooled one, eh?

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Maes said:

....while having a big, cooled one, eh?


Sometimes :)

But my overall alcohol consumption isn't that great. Typically its about 2-4 beers over the week and then during the weekend I will often have roughly 250ml of whiskey, rum or vodka.

The reason for why I am interested in these low alcohol beers is that I love the taste of beer, and would like being able to drink more of them without drinking too much extra alcohol.

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Alcoholism stems from the pleasure of the inebriating effects of the alcohol, as far as my understanding of such matters goes. As such, it seems unlikely to me that looking for ways to consume more alcohol without feeling the effects could be a path to alcoholism. I'm no expert on the matter though, so don't take my word on it.

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hardcore_gamer said:

Could I get away with drinking 3-4 pints a day of this stuff without harming my liver or getting alcoholism?

I'm not sure what the actual question is here. What are you actually asking?

If the question is: "I might want to drink a few beers with some buddies this Friday. Should I do it?", then sure - go and knock yourself out.

But the way you've phrased this might be interpreted as "I'm about to start drinking 3-4 pints of alcohol, is this a good idea?" - if that's what you mean, then the answer is probably no.

Context to how you consume alcohol matters a lot. If you're drinking socially with friends occasionally, that's a world of difference to if you're drinking every day, on your own.

hardcore_gamer said:

But my overall alcohol consumption isn't that great. Typically its about 2-4 beers over the week and then during the weekend I will often have roughly 250ml of whiskey, rum or vodka.

The reason for why I am interested in these low alcohol beers is that I love the taste of beer, and would like being able to drink more of them without drinking too much extra alcohol.

From what you say here it sounds like the latter. Given that you say that you like the taste of beer, I'd be careful about how you proceed: ultimately it's up to you how and when you want to consume alcohol, but I personally wouldn't want to be in a position where I was drinking every day.

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hardcore_gamer said:

But my overall alcohol consumption isn't that great. Typically its about 2-4 beers over the week and then during the weekend I will often have roughly 250ml of whiskey, rum or vodka.


...yikes O_o

At 40% alcohol, this means you take 100 ml of pure alcohol every weekend. During a year it may not appear much (about 5.2 liters, far away than the average Russian's 17) but if you factor in that you assume it during just 2 days, that's 100 ml per day, which simply put, means that you get smashed even harder than the aveage Russian during the weekends. Congratulations (?).

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Maes said:

...yikes O_o

At 40% alcohol, this means you take 100 ml of pure alcohol every weekend. During a year it may not appear much (about 5.2 liters, far away than the average Russian's 17) but if you factor in that you assume it during just 2 days, that's 100 ml per day, which simply put, means that you get smashed even harder than the aveage Russian during the weekends. Congratulations (?).


No, it is consumed in only 1 day. I pick which weekend day to use and don't drink (the hard stuff anyway) on the other. And it's not really a day either, but more like 2-3 hours late in the evening.

I should probably point out that Icelandic drinking culture is not like those of many other European countries. We are a bit like the Finnish in that we can consume a very considerable amount of alcohol in a short period of time. For a lot of Icelanders the weekend=wasted.

A friend of mine which often drinks with me and my friends during some weekends sometimes drinks like 500ml of vodka and 10 33cl cans of beer (5%ABV) during the night while we are having fun and still doesn't end up too drunk to walk. Another friend of mine also once drank 10 50cl beers in a bus during a period of about 1-2 hours while on his way to a company party and then drank even more while he was there. He did however end up vomiting all over himself as well as one of his bosses before coming to my place and falling asleep in my bathtub while trying to take a bath in it (I actually called the police cus I thought he had drowned or some shit and he had locked the door to the bathroom so I could not get in. Thankfully he woke up). I will admit that I could never drink that much at once though, and don't care much for trying.

Also, I have heard that binge drinking is actually not as hard on your liver as constant drinking of less alcohol over a longer period of time because the later doesn't give your liver time to recover.

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Alcoholism is a dependency on alcohol, it's not something you "catch." It all depends on your predispositions to addiction and dependence. If you feel like you can't go an afternoon without getting drunk you might indeed have a problem. Otherwise you're probably fine. I drink a LOT and my biggest problem is the huge fucking gut I've developed. I like beer a lot more than working out, so I just kind of have to live with it.

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You can get addicted to 1 or 2 drinks a day and be fine, even healthier for it. You can be unaddicted, but do 20 shots in a night and require a kidney transplant. Addiction and disease are unrelated, but what you want to avoid is getting addicted to 3+ drinks a day, if not for your health then for your wealth.

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Nomad said:

Otherwise you're probably fine. I drink a LOT and my biggest problem is the huge fucking gut I've developed.


Isn't the weight problem thing tied to just beer consumption? Or does it branch to other drinks?

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At some point, your mind would certainly be more at ease if you dabbled briefly in hallucinogens, and once you get the signal, turn the switch off and go back to your life while drinking alcohol only occasionally.

Alcohol is a drug. It's probably the worst drug to combine with any other medication. Alcohol just does not combine well with other drugs, you can get fucked up very easily. Alcohol by itself is essentially poison with a few niche benefits to the body (fighting infection perhaps and others). I think alcohol is great and we have evolved into a race of creatures who enjoy its effects. Genetically, we evolved to embrace alcohol as a remedy and medication for life. Granted it has destroyed the lives of countless individuals and families, far more than illicit drugs have ever done.

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That's actually a great rule to follow. Addendum: "only on Fridays when I am socializing with other human beings, face to face".

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Platinum Shell said:

Isn't the weight problem thing tied to just beer consumption? Or does it branch to other drinks?

All forms of alcohol are high in calories. Beer is probably worse than other forms of alcohol, though, because its low alcohol content means you're likelier to drink more of it.

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There's also beer with 0% alcohol... No idea if any of them taste any good... I tasted some 0% cider one day, and it was ok.

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Jimi said:

There's also beer with 0% alcohol... No idea if any of them taste any good... I tasted some 0% cider one day, and it was ok.


I guess they are OK if you want something different, but they don't taste anything like beer. They are often either too sweet, like e.g. malts, or bitter and metallic, like wet carton.

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TheCupboard said:

That's actually a great rule to follow. Addendum: "only on Fridays when I am socializing with other human beings, face to face".


Drinking alone CAN be a symptom of other issues, but I don't think it deserves the stigma people give it. I drink beer because I like it a lot, and I generally drink by myself because I don't have the time or resources to be out with other people every night I want to drink. The harm of drinking alone is when you're doing it to avoid other problems, but the act itself is harmless.

Although the evidence of marijuana garnering a physical dependence is dubious at best, you can absolutely develop a psychological dependence on getting high--but no one ever says anything about the people who smoke alone to forget their problems. It's the same thing; the problem isn't necessarily the substance being consumed but the reason why; alcohol just happens to be a mood amplifier.

TheCupboard said:

I found this article interesting reading at one time or another, (related to weight gain and metabolism): http://www.livestrong.com/article/459176-does-drinking-alcohol-slow-your-metabolism/


I've recently been privy to the idea that the common conception of slow vs. fast metabolism and its relation to weight gain is actually completely reversed from what people think. Essentially, the faster your body metabolizes what you put into it, the more your body has pack on reserves to compensate. Slower metabolisms use up the energy as it's taken in and needs to keep less in reserve.

Think of it like a store: The "hotter" a product is selling, the more they're going to order and keep stock of so they don't run out. Other products replenish as needed.

So alcohol speeding up your metabolism is exactly WHY it causes you to pack on pounds. I don't know why that article implies that it causes you to lose weight.

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