Retirement from drinking heavy/high ABV beers

To fight this fight I've switched to "(almost) never on a school night." Strictly Friday and Saturday nights for almost anything of any ABV, unless it's a very special situation.

 

Be careful what you wish for. When 22 oz bottles were the norm for big beers, people were asking for smaller vessel sizes. When 16 oz big beers in cans started coming along at $5+ per can, those same people were like "why is it so expensive?!" You start to divide it in even smaller portions, you're looking at $8 per 8 oz can for barrel aged beers which is obviously a dollar per ounce. If you're willing to pay that, cool. But, if you're not, maybe you should just try to find it on draft or travel to the brewery to get the experience.

Tl;dr The 3-tier system is a bitch

 

Ok, so I agree with part of your post: it most certainly is always stout season. I will drink a BA Ten Fidy on the beach in 95 degree weather. HOWEVER, everyone is different and the purpose of the OP is to call attention to how high gravity beers can take its toll on both your liver and calorie intake as you get older. I'm 35 and know that at some point soon here, even given my decent exercise protocol, will need to start pedaling back on my big beer intake. I think that's the main sentiment OP is trying to convey here. Sure, you could get a membership to a Muay Thai or Jiu jitsu gym and that might help, but we don't all have a proclivity to martial arts or high intensity workouts. So, while you're able to take down high gravity beers like a champ because you work out all the time, others have a different regiment. Just keep that in mind please

 

Wow, first off I’m sorry for your loss. Second, that seems insane just because that really doesn’t sound like a lot of alcohol, even over the course of years to kill someone so I definitely see where your head is at in thinking the situation created the perfect storm.

 

I only fast max once or twice a week and it isn't to to drink beer.
This thread would be like someone on a weed website saying they arent smoking high potency marijuana anymore because they are having lung issues or something similar and switchingback to shwag weed. It comes with the territory. We all know the risks and i don't think we need a reminder as we are all grown men.

My condolences to OP and i hope you get better!
cheers everyone

 

I do that too. I also buy big BA beers in 32oz growlettes. I drink those across several days in small portions, they're easily sealed, and the store steam cleans the exchange jugs. Obviously could get weaker beers too, though I haven't. Small jugs take less room.

 

I keep telling myself I need to cut back but so far have found it very hard to do, though I do drink more pilsners and the like now and have gotten to where I don't really care for TIPAs at all anymore. As for the big stouts, Free Will puts almost all of theirs in 8oz cans now, which I think is a perfect size.

 

3 pages in (maybe I missed it?) but what sort of pension comes with this retirement?

 

Pension? What are those?

Oh, you mean 401k match? For every high ABV not consumed, your liver will match your contribution by temporarily retaining its functionality!

 

Well depending on your choice of big stouts, retirement could allow you to turn each purchase you don't make into a case or more of lighter beer! That's like 1000% interest in ozs! Better interest rate than my ira, that's for sure

 

I would gladly pay a premium for smaller vessels. Perhaps not Anchorage prices but if it meant I could enjoy a 15% beer without sharing or falling asleep, absolutely I want the 8oz cans.

 

Great post, especially that last line. Why people force themselves to finish beers is beyond me. P

 

I have never forced myself to finish a beer.

I've never drain poured one, either.

But, then, I've never expected beer to be a "magical elixir".

 

I've occasionally gotten a beer that I wasn't fond of but thought that I might come around to (after all, how many of us actually liked the first sip of beer that we took?). A lot of beverages or foodstuffs are acquired tastes, and I figure that I should at least put in the effort to meet the beer on its own terms.

Sometimes I end up liking it, sometimes I've wasted my alcohol/calorie intake.

 

I'm slowly heading towards this "retirement" myself, though it's less about age, calories, or overall alcohol volume, and more about a changing personal "enjoyment to sip" ratio that seems to favor more subtlety over flavor-bludgeoning.

Which feels odd, because I loved BBA stouts and the like, and for a long time. Some of those were among the first handful of beers that hooked me firmly into whole craft beer deal.

But these days I find myself enjoying a well-executed lager, weissbier, or sour more, and am generally able to have more of them per sitting. I've also found myself putting notes in reviews and check-ins like "Not bad, but I prefer <base stout/barleywine> to this <insert liquor barrel plus other additives here> variant", whereas a decade or so back I'd have raved about the "bigger" flavor profile.

Tl;dr I am getting old and people need to get off my lager lawn.

 

More accurate to say I've never tried a beer I couldn't find something about it I enjoyed.