some people can't drink

[bzwyatt]

So I was with my wife yesterday at festival that had a beer garden. The beers were provided by local brew clubs. It was pretty cool; you got a small glass (probably 5 oz) and went around to various brew clubs and got all the beer you wanted.

So I tasted some of the beers I was most interested in. I usually tasted stuff I want to brew, or that I have brewed, or things my friends brewed. Like most people who get very serious about making beer, I'm sure, I don't drink many beers unless it is something I really want to try. So I was pretty happy to be able to try quite a wide variety of brews at this event, and I had some I haven't had before (a mead), or only once or twice (a barleywine). It was fun.

So, I had probably a total of 3 -4 glasses of beer over the course of 4 hours at the event. I never got really buzzed.

My wife was with me though, and she drank a lot. I didn't notice it until we left, because I was helping out at my club's booth, and she was out at the festival. She smelled like alcohol. She was acting drunk on the way home, like really drunk. And she smelled like alcohol all night. I asked her how much she drank and she said she had no idea. Couldn't remember at all. So she drank a lot. She isn't a lightweight. She can't drink as much as me, but she isn't a lightweight.

I know this about her - when she drinks more than one or two, she doesn't really stop. She just keeps drinking. Half the time, she gets sick and the next day says she's never drinking again. I always forget it about her though, like yesterday, I wasn't expecting her to get drunk at all. The glasses were small, and we were walking around all day, and I didn't even get buzzed. But since she could drink as many as she wanted - didn't have to keep buying them - she just kept drinking.

I have gotten sick a few times, and hammered a few times, but it has been a while. I don't enjoy it, and I have learned over time how much I can drink to keep having fun and enjoying myself, and the drinks. And that is how much I drink. I don't think about it, I can just feel it and I know when to slow down, or stop. But it seems like she doesn't have that ability. She has been drinking longer than I have, but she still acts like a teenager with alcohol.

Do you know anybody like that?

 

[drainbamage]

I've known a few people like that.

My wife has had similar experiences to yours. She is also fine with 1 or 2 drinks, but past a certain point loses that mental shut-off of "hey, I should slow it down now". She's had bad enough experiences that she has had to swear off some drinks altogether.

I was also friends with this one guy in college. The group of us used to frequent a certain craft beer bar by campus as we started to expand our horizons. In his attempts to be a badass or whatever, this guy would always order the strongest beer on the menu...which he would inevitably hate and chug the rest of the bottle just to choke it down and move on to something else. He was a lightweight too, so it wouldn't take much to totally destroy him.

I'm no angel; I overindulge sometimes as well, but I don't know how someone can repeatedly do it "by accident".

 

[MarshmallowBlue]

I went to a festival to start my bachelor party. Pourings of unlimited 2oz samples for 3 hours. I got drunk. But I drank more than 3-4 beers worth of samples in that time.

 

[Braufessor]

It is pretty easy for things to get away from you at a beer festival/tasting.
1.) you never realize quite how much you are drinking..... as you are only drinking an ounce or two at a time.

2.)Very often, the beers that are being showcased are high alcohol varieties of "bourbon barrel this" and "imperial that."

3.) You can actually end up drinking faster than you usually would because you are just kind of going from booth to booth and you throw one down because you see an open line.

4.) Often, you are outside in the sun, and sometimes water is not as readily available as it should be.

My wife is the same way to some extent - 1 or 2 and perfectly fine. 3-4 and getting drunk. More than 4 and she is sick. I have done my share of getting too drunk too.... so, not putting her down. Hell, if I got drunk and sick off of 3-4 beers.....well, I would probably get drunk and sick a lot more often, if I am being honest.

If we are going to something like this, or we know we are going to be drinking a fair amount, she usually tries to alternate one beer with one glass of water. That helps quite a bit. Once someone is drunk/buzzed and having a good time - "thinking ahead" is generally not a strong point for anyone.

 

[drainbamage]

If we are going to something like this, or we know we are going to be drinking a fair amount, she usually tries to alternate one beer with one glass of water. That helps quite a bit. Once someone is drunk/buzzed and having a good time - "thinking ahead" is generally not a strong point for anyone.

Good point. Eating a decent-sized meal in advance helps as well, as long as you don't stuff yourself to the point where another ounce of anything in your stomach will have you puking.