Am I turning into an alcoholic?

[urg8rb8]

Before I started homebrewing, I would drink maybe 2 pints (or bottles) of beer a week. Now that I started making 5 gallon batches, I find myself drinking ever freaking day. But I'm getting to the point where I am trying to drink the beer as quickly as I can so that I could start brewing something else.

Note: I do share the beer with others.

Is this normal???

 

[sillbeer]

Completely normal. Just brew more, you'll get better at it.

 

[wallybangbang]

yes an yes its normal. LOL just kidding. My dad died from liver failure so I grew up knowing what a true alcoholic looks like. Having a beer everyday does not make you an alcoholic. Just make sure you don't become dependent, i.e. having physical symptoms of withdrawal when you don't drink. Try going for a week without drinking and see. If you can stop for a week with no issues your probably alright. True alcoholics literally cannot stop, they are physically dependent. Homebrewing will make you fat like the rest of though. Lots of calories.

 

[JimRausch]

Same thing with me, although I limit it to 2 beers per night, maybe 3 on the weekend. Plus I've designated Monday as a 'no-beer' night(mostly because I work until 8pm on Mondays). Before I started brewing I didn't drink more than a couple beers per week, but I did put away a couple glasses of red wine daily. It all evens out.
I believe if you can stop having a beer for a couple days, then you're OK.

 

[urg8rb8]

LOL How much alcohol does it take to damage your liver?

 

[harleybug88]

If I can't drink beer every day, than life isn't worth living.

 

[Resonator]

I think as long as you aren't drunk every day, you're fine.

 

[Kharnynb]

a couple of glasses of beer a day is actually not all that bad for you.

At least the alcohol will thin your blood and keep heart disease away ;D

 

[Resonator]

a couple of glasses of beer a day is actually not all that bad for you.

At least the alcohol will thin your blood and keep heart disease away ;D

Also helps prevent kidney stones

 

[brewcat]

You need to get more storage equipment or do smaller batches if you want to brew more.

 

[unionrdr]

a couple of glasses of beer a day is actually not all that bad for you.

At least the alcohol will thin your blood and keep heart disease away ;D

Also helps prevent kidney stones

This explains a few things. To start with, If you read my Brew & A interview, then you have my backstory. I also have osteoarthritis in my left hip & a bad L2 disc. Articles & other folks have told me smoking & alcohol make for more pain with my given maladies. I think I've debunked that. I went for a couple weeks with no beer & like 10 days without a cigarette. The pains got worse in the stated joints, rather than better. My son bought me a 24oz'r & a pack od cigs, & I had to get up & hit the head, about 15' away in the front hall. My joints felt a lot less pain, just sorta stiff. When the alcohol wears off, the pain comes back as normal. So I think they got it backwards. And I guess it has been good for my high blood pressure. I feel a lot better after a couple beers, home brews or otherwise. Just thought I'd give my impressions. Now if Responsible Ohio has their way...

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

Before I started homebrewing, I would drink maybe 2 pints (or bottles) of beer a week. Now that I started making 5 gallon batches, I find myself drinking ever freaking day. But I'm getting to the point where I am trying to drink the beer as quickly as I can so that I could start brewing something else.

Note: I do share the beer with others.

Is this normal???

Okay, alcoholism and substance abuse are serious issues, and there is no one defining answer about if one is or isn't an alcoholic. One way of looking at it is for what reason does one drink, and if they drink to the point of intoxication most of the time. In many countries people drink daily as part of a meal or ritualistically to end the work day. In the USA many health professionals could raise a flag about someone drinking daily, and technically a person that gets drunk just once a year every July 4, for example, could be deemed an alcoholic. If you are concerned, and loosing interest in other things maybe it is time to step back an evaluate your choices. Brew smaller batches, give more away. And so forth. The greatest power a person possesses is the power to choose. I trust this has helped. Be well!

 

[Roadliner]

I know, and have been, people who drink very heavily and quite regularly who are not alcoholics. It's the physical/mental dependence that determines that. If you can not drink for a few days without it adversely affecting your health.. you probably shouldn't worry about it.

 

[urg8rb8]

I'm definitely not addicted and its not effecting my social or work life in any way and I'm not getting drunk. But our livers don't know the difference between social drinking and slight addition. I'm just drinking a lot more of it than I did before home brewing.

 

[wallybangbang]

Every persons body is different as far as liver damage goes. 2 to 3 beers a day with some non drinking days in between is just fine.- shouldn't hurt you. My parents are hard core Christians and even they drink either a beer or glass of red wine every day!

 

[Roadliner]

Whether or not your drinking is damaging your liver is something you would have to check up with a doctor about. But if it's only a few drinks a day, I highly doubt it. That's a separate thing from alcoholism though.

 

[popgunandy]

One thing I would recommend is to limit the ABV of your batches...I tend to drink beer daily when it's here, so I purposely never brew above 5% ABV.

Bigger isn't always better.

 

[smurfjuice]

Before I started homebrewing, I would drink maybe 2 pints (or bottles) of beer a week. Now that I started making 5 gallon batches, I find myself drinking ever freaking day. But I'm getting to the point where I am trying to drink the beer as quickly as I can so that I could start brewing something else.

Note: I do share the beer with others.

Is this normal???

Yes, yes you are an alkeeholik ... ...

 

[urg8rb8]

Whether or not your drinking is damaging your liver is something you would have to check up with a doctor about. But if it's only a few drinks a day, I highly doubt it. That's a separate thing from alcoholism though.

That's true. Now that I think about it, alcoholism is more about the addiction to alcohol, which I don't have. So I guess I ask the question as more tongue-in-cheek.

 

[Patch62383]

Only you can decide if you're over doing it. I drink 2-3 beers a day just about everyday. I don't crave beer or do I need it. I occasionally stop for a week or two at a time. There's nothing wrong with enjoying beer but if you're getting drunk or even buzzed and needing to chase a buzz every time you drink I think you need to cut back. I have a lot of people I know who have had 2-3 beers a day for 50 years and they're healthy as could be. I myself know when I'm being bad but if I do that I cut back. I drink almost everyday I never drink in the morning I have a beer with dinner and one after maybe two depends on the day. Enjoy your beer for the beer not getting a buzz everytime you drink

 

[Subdivisions]

The only thing I notice is that my beer gut is getting a little bigger. That may be due to the fact that I don't drink Miller Lite exclusively anymore. Other than that just check yourself against your previous self ( as far as your personality and actions). It can be hard to do but others around you will notice. Let them be a guide also. Good luck.

 

[Silentdrinker]

My buddy, who used to live with us for a very short time, was/is an alcoholic. I brewed 5 gallons of a milk stout and kegged it. It was amazing and I was looking forward to sharing it and enjoying it... I went to bed after getting it, and it was pretty much half empty. He drank all our hard liquor leaving just the slightest amount in the bottle. I mean 1/8" of it. My fiancé and I left for a couple days, so I hid ALL our alcohol. I put all our wines, beer, everything in the basement. I even hid stuff in the drawer of the fridge down there. I come home, all of it gone.

He got so wasted he, a 40+ y/o man, pissed his pants in my kitchen. My fiancé had to clean this man's piss off our floor. I literally had to call his parents to tell them to take him outta my house. He can't even hold a job. He was even in rehab before. It cost his parents over 6k to put him in. He went in thinking he didn't need to. He left thinking he had no issues... boy is he wrong. Still to this day has issues.

Another friend is now in AA and alcohol free for several years. She would go out and get wasted to the point of blacking out. She drove home one day. She managed to make it home, went to bed... woke up to the police pounding on her door. Took her ass to Jail because she smashed and side swiped a row of cars on our way home.

So ya... You get to that point, you got a real f***ing problem. If you can control yourself, I think you're alright with a beer or two a night even though it's a lot of calories.

 

[55x11]

2-4 beers a day, every day, drunk slowly and with some food, would only do you good, as it thins your blood and prevents cardiovascular disease, which is #1 killer in US, and the world. If you don't drink at all, you increase your mortality risk by 30-50%, as compared to "moderate" drinking, daily. Moderate means not just 1 beer a day as US defines it, with hidden implication that the second beer is deadly, but instead health benefits extend to about 3-4 beers a day, apparently. And regular drinking (5-7 days a week) is actually better for your health than occasional drinking (1-4 days a week).

See this thread.

Liver damage from drinking beer is actually not easy to achieve. If you drink vodka, scotch or other hard liquor, sure. But you need to drink more than a case of 5-6% ABV beer every day, and down it fast, and do it for decades to get into some real damage territory. Of course it's somewhat variable by person, but overall danger of liver cirrhosis for regular population are a bit overstated. Binge drinking (like what the college kids do), irregular spikes in drinking, high ABV drinks, are generally bad. Regular steady drinking/sipping of low-ABV (5-8%) beverages, with food, is actually good for you. French live longer than most europeans - British, Irish, etc. primarily because of their steady consumption of alcohol - and not just red whine, any alcohol, in fact beer may be better since it is lower in alcohol and has no sulfates.

The more I learn about this, the more I realize how powerful anti-alcohol lobby is at misinforming about risks of drinking (alcohol is a toxin, any amount is harmful, etc.). I know their targets are drunk drivers and perhaps *real* alcoholics, but their efforts may be doing more harm than good, overall - ironically.

 

[unionrdr]

That's why I cut out the vodka with my beers all the time. Just a couple bottles with/after dinner. A decent pain killer at this point, besides the yeast factor. Doc said my liver function is normal, so i got over on that point, my past considered. Home brew kinda feels different too.

 

[Roadliner]

The more I learn about this, the more I realize how powerful anti-alcohol lobby is at misinforming about risks of drinking (alcohol is a toxin, any amount is harmful, etc.). I know their targets are drunk drivers and perhaps *real* alcoholics, but their efforts may be doing more harm than good, overall - ironically.

I would say this is true with every lobby group. The misinformation out there that the media spews and the consumer gobbles up is astounding.