r/todayilearned • u/vancouver_reader • Jun 29 '22
TIL The body associates quality non-alcoholic beer with the flavour and smell with full-strength beer. This leads it to produce dopamine, giving you the same feelings of reward as full-strength beer
https://steadydrinker.com/articles/benefits-of-alcohol-free-beer/[removed] — view removed post
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u/Belazael Jun 29 '22
I’ve yet to find a non alcoholic beer that does this. And I’ve tried a fair few.
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u/BrokenEye3 Jun 29 '22
I've yet to find any kind of beer that does this.
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u/Danhuangmao Jun 29 '22
You won't get the dopamine fix until you're acclimated to it (ie have a low level addiction that rewards you for taking a hit).
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u/smileymn Jun 29 '22
Athletic Brewing Company
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u/Santuse Jun 29 '22
If you let it sit in the fridge open for a month, it will turn into fermented non alcoholic beer. Then it'll work.
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u/wrextnight
Jun 29 '22
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Hah, my alcoholism has fooled you yet again!
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u/HidingInSaccades Jun 29 '22
I’ll try some of the better tasting brands if anyone can recommend them.
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u/MyVoiceIsElevating Jun 29 '22
I really enjoy Clausthaler Dry Hopped. They sell it at big liquor stores like Binny’s.
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u/South_Data2898 Jun 29 '22 edited Jun 29 '22
Erdinger is pretty good. I believe the German's use it instead of sports drink for the Olympics. Sierra Nevada has a "hop water" that is surprisingly refreshing as well.
Edit: Lagunitas too.
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Jun 29 '22
Heineken 0.0 is actually palatable
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u/South_Data2898 Jun 29 '22
Heineken? Fuck that shit! Pabst Blue Ribbon!
For real those, Pabst has a very decent NA that's pretty close to the real thing and super cheap comparatively.
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u/DeeDee-Allin Jun 29 '22
Athletic Brewing has some really great NA. Their Hazy IPA and straight IPA are killer!
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u/Infinite_Bob Jun 29 '22
Big Drop Paradiso IPA
DO NOT DRINK Lagunitas IPNA, it is disgusting
Lagunitas Hoppy Refresher, however, is a delicious hop soda of sorts.
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u/vancouver_reader Jun 29 '22
it looks like Partake and Athletic Brewing are the well reviewed ones
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u/Belazael Jun 29 '22
They’re ok at best
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u/vancouver_reader Jun 29 '22
what is your favorite NA brewery?
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u/congressmancuff Jun 29 '22
If you’re a vancouverite, give the President’s Choice NA a try. No joke. The red is best but the blonde is also nice as a summer beer.
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u/Belazael Jun 29 '22
Coppertail is a pretty solid local brewery (I live in the same city basically) so I’d probably default to that as my favorite since they have the most I’ve enjoyed. They make one of the only IPAs I actually like.
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u/raven080068 Jun 29 '22
Um no lol
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u/SleepyMonkey7 Jun 29 '22 edited Jun 29 '22
Yep. A big part of that initial buzz you get from a drink isn't the alcohol itself but your body's dopamine response to the introduction of alcohol into your system. This is why (more so with new/younger drinkers) people keep chasing that buzz with more drinks But you don't get the same dopamine response with subsequent drinks. So you just end up sloppy or angry or sleepy.
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u/pufballcat Jun 29 '22
So you just end up sloppy or angry or sleepy
Two of those were dismissed by Snow White for misconduct
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u/WellWhyNotJustYell Jun 29 '22
As a Wisconsinite I have to disagree with this for no other reason than for it to be on record that I disagreed.
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u/Publius82 Jun 29 '22
Alcoholics from across the country, nay, the world must unite in the face of this vicious propaganda!
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u/Pholderz Jun 29 '22
An alcoholic is going to drink for the primary purpose of getting drunk. Unless we are talking about including some amphetamines, or opiates, or what have you, No amount of NA beer will replicate the dopamine and seratonin dumping into the brain.
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u/kelldricked Jun 29 '22
Also i havent found a NA beer that tastes as good as real beer. Even with blind testing you can always pickout the NA beer instantly. Kinda sucks
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u/kwausimodo Jun 29 '22
Today, I learned you can only post on Reddit if you develop enough karma on it, but you can only develop karma by posting on Reddit...
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u/vancouver_reader Jun 29 '22
how do you get around it?
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u/kwausimodo Jun 29 '22
Was hoping you could tell me. I guess my account hasn't been around long enough? I'm way late to the Reddit game.
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u/Vegan_Harvest Jun 29 '22
I'm guessing the key word is quality. Though I have to think it's not quite the same as you don't get drunk from dopamine.
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u/forthisalone_ Jun 29 '22
As an alcoholic, I'm going to say "nah"
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u/MazerRakam Jun 29 '22
As someone that rarely drinks alcohol, also "nah".
First off, I'm definitely going be able to notice it tastes less alcoholic.
Also, I don't drink enough alcohol for my brain to start pumping dopamine at the taste of beer. When I do drink beer, my brain just goes "Ew, gross, this is bitter and horrible. This is why I don't drink beer."
NA beer is the worst of both worlds. It's still bitter and horrible, but it won't even get me drunk. I'd rather drink water.
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Jun 29 '22
[deleted]
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u/KnowOneNymous Jun 29 '22
It’s not alcool, it’s fermentation! Good kombucha can replace sour beer in a blind taste test.
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u/HavocReigns Jun 29 '22
Good kombucha can replace sour beer in a blind taste test.
Good kombucha has as much alcohol as many mass-produced beers.
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u/Official_Zach Jun 29 '22
If by good you mean double fermented or hard kombucha, sure, otherwise most regular kombuchas only get up to about 2% abv if they are homemade or around .5% abv if they are commercial. The only beers I know of that get around (and they are all above it) 2% are all the commercial 'light' alternative beers, not the regular run of the mill commercial beers.
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u/KnowOneNymous Jun 29 '22
Good kombucha has less than 0.5% alcool. Because the fermentation changes that to acetic acid.
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u/HavocReigns Jun 29 '22
Just the mass-produced stuff specifically made to be under the FDA max of .5% ABV to be considered "non-alcoholic" and thus can be sold anywhere, to anyone, of any age.
Naturally, it's 1-3%. But that has to be sold as an alcoholic beverage. Or brewed at home.
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u/KnowOneNymous Jun 29 '22
Heh, even craft Kombucha is under 0.5%. And stuff under 2% can’t get people drunk. The speed at which liquid are processed is bottlenecked.
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u/HavocReigns Jun 29 '22
Heh, even craft Kombucha is under 0.5%.
Natural kombucha almost always has more than .5% ABV. Commercial manufacturers have to take special steps to keep it below that threshold, so that it doesn't have to be sold as an alcoholic beverage. The biggest manufacturer in the market, GT's, actually has a line of "classic" kombucha that you must be 21 or over to buy which is their original brew. Then the FDA cracked down, so they came up with their "enlightened" line that has been alcohol-reduced to under .5% for grocery store sales.
Then there are the double-fermented "hard" kombuchas that can hit 3% (or possibly slightly more).
And stuff under 2% can’t get people drunk.
I never said it could. You disputed that alcohol was relevant to the flavor and that it was all down to being fermented because kombucha could replace sour beer, and I merely pointed out that strong kombucha has as much alcohol as many weak, mass-produced beers. Little did I know we would be embarking on a crusade.
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u/KnowOneNymous Jun 29 '22
Well, I would argue kimchi tastes better than unfermented slaw due to fermentation not alcool, but I get your point. Mine was more about the effect of saccaromyces or brettanomyces fermentation on grain which adds complexity to what would be sugar. The alcool is just the yeast shitting out after eating part of the grain 😀
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Jun 29 '22
Not even close to being true. Like, not even close. In fact, it is *because* it does not trigger the reward system, that this product is trouble for many people, especially recovering alcoholics.
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Jun 29 '22
The brain does think it is getting the real thing, but when there is no chemical reward it goes into crisis and demands the real thing.
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u/LegendOfDrizzle Jun 29 '22
Huh, never heard that. But I went through a period where I drank quite a few whiskey gingers. And I absolutely felt a buzz when I would have just a ginger ale.
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u/BrokenEye3 Jun 29 '22
How much beer does one have to drink to get these supposed "feelings of reward"? Because I've never made it that far
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u/Danhuangmao Jun 29 '22
You need to form a habit first, so that your body welcomes the hit and rewards you for it.
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u/soldelmisol Jun 29 '22
Can confirm. After trying to find decent nonA brew, Athletic Brewery out of Oregon has the best. Their Session IPA is legit, and 70 calories. Very tasty and good!
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u/Free_Solid9833 Jun 29 '22
Only if you don't know beforehand?
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u/vancouver_reader Jun 29 '22
this is a good time for an experiment. NA beer as placebo with standard identical tasting beer
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u/MissionCreep Jun 29 '22
I can tell with one sip if a brew is non-alcohol. Alcohol has a very distinct flavor.
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u/vancouver_reader Jun 29 '22
do you think it is possible to make the taste 100% the same?
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u/MissionCreep Jun 29 '22
Doubtful. The best NA I've tried is St. Pauli Girl, and that's not very good.
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u/spock_block Jun 29 '22
Nothing better than a really cold non-alcoholic during hot summer days. All the refreshing feeling without the side-effects of alcohol.
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u/Alan_Smithee_ Jun 29 '22
That’s very interesting.
I have an acquaintance who has/had a drinking problem, and they drink non-alcoholic beer.
I’ve always wondered about that, but he’s keeping it together, so I guess it works for him?
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u/iamcandlemaker Jun 29 '22
Alcohol effects GABBA , not dopamine. You will feel rewarded,not drunk.
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u/ImReallyAnAstronaut Jun 29 '22
From what I remember from my neuroscience classes in college (I'm a genius if you couldn't tell) alcohol inhibits GABA (which inhibits dopamine) so by inhibiting GABA you are effectively increasing dopamine.
This was years ago and I'm drunk on alcohol so I could be wrong though.
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u/Incontinento Jun 29 '22
Bullschlitz.