How important is the "buzz"?

Yes. You said, "Anyone who says otherwise is lying." Most, if not all, of us started drinking primarly for the buzz. Some of us have moved past that point and the buzz is no longer the primary reason why we drink beer. I still enjoy getting a nice buzz from time to time, but I usually drink liquor for that. When I drink craft beer, I do it for the flavor and not for the buzz. I'd love to see somebody make a palatable N/A beer.

 

I like beer and I like the buzz that comes with it, but when I have no beer on hand (it's happened!) I don't find myself seeking a buzz through other types of alcohol.

 

The buzz is important.

I only have so many calories I can consume. I only have so much money I can spend. As wonderfully tasty as well made beer is, it is no where near as tasty as well made food. So if I'm not going to get the added bonus of a buzz, then I'd rather spend my money and calories on great food.

 

It's not black or white. Just because we want the buzz doesn't mean we're going to drink stuff that doesn't taste good. I eat food because I need to, but that doesn't mean I am sucking down boiled tofu three meals per day. I want to enjoy my consumption. I want to get a buzz (for the reason mentioned in the my post just above this one), but I want to enjoy the pleasures of well crafted products when getting this buzz.

 

^this. OK so there's cheap buzz. But then there's craft beer. I mean yes there is a buzz but it can't just be that. I t has to be something more than that else you would switch to cheaper beer or to whiskey for much less money. =)

 

It's not black or white. Just because we want the buzz doesn't mean we're going to drink stuff that doesn't good. I eat food because I need to, but that doesn't mean I am sucking down boiled tofu three meals per day. I want to enjoy my consumption. I want to get a buzz (for the reason mentioned in the my post just above this one), but I want to enjoy the pleasures of well crafted products when getting this buzz.

 

You are entitled to do so. I stand by my statements as well.

 

I drink beer for both reasons, but as the years pass the weighting of either aspect has shifted. As a young man my primary goal was getting buzzed/drunk with very little regard for the taste (very low cost was also a strongly weighted factor). Now that I'm older it's the taste experience that drives my purchasing and consumption decisions, but the buzz is still pleasant and part of the experience. I 'm also now old enough to realize too many, too fast = nap time.

 

It's not black or white. Just because we want the buzz doesn't mean we're going to drink stuff that doesn't good. I eat food because I need to, but that doesn't mean I am sucking down boiled tofu three meals per day. I want to enjoy my consumption. I want to get a buzz (for the reason mentioned in the my post just above this one), but I want to enjoy the pleasures of well crafted products when getting this buzz.

 

I go for taste first, knowing some level of buzz will eventually appear.

 

I agree with Providence, it really need not be one or the other...the difference here is how important each is to us. For someone like myself I would say that 90% is taste and 10% is the buzz for instance.

 

Sometimes, like before I go to work, (I am a bartender/ server) I like to enjoy a beer or a glass of wine with my lunch. And I usually tend to (try) to only have a porter or a single ipa. That's not to say I never drink a "big" beer before I go in because I would by lying, but 8 times out of 10 I usually have a porter or weaker alcohol ipa. And that satisfies me. I used to drink JUST for the "buzz", but that was in my teen and early 20's... Now I just enjoy the wonderful taste of a great beer or wine (mostly beer, because this is BEERadvocate after all ) with my food. The buzz kind of lost its point a year or so ago. I was sick and tired of the nasty hangovers that I always got, no matter how much food I ate or how much water I drank along side my alcoholic drinks, it didn't seem to matter (to me at least). So the short answer, the buzz isn't all that important to me anymore. I mean, yes I do get drunk on occasion sometimes, but normally I just drink a good brew to get the taste and I enjoy it much more thoroughly than if I was chugging down pint after pint just to get a buzz.

 

This is the beer version of telling people you have gone vegan.

If you dont like the buzz, you dont like beer, you like flavored water.

 

I love the taste of great beer and I love the buzz from the first beer I drink. But then I start chasing that first-beer-buzz with more beer and can never get that first-beer-buzz back. Either give up or get sloshed depending on what night of the week it is.

 

I would not drink craft beer if it provided 0 buzz. How can anyone say "I'm going to consume 900 calories of beverage tonight" ONLY for the taste? Unless you simply don't care about your health and bodyweight. I work my ass off to maintain a Normal bodyweight. I drink nothing but water and beer (and black coffee and looseleaf tea... both very low calorie). Soda is a completely inadequate substitute. It is super disturbingly high in sugar and is nowhere near as complex as something like Cantillon Vigneronne. Even having one beer, which I do many nights, your mood is changed, even if slightly. The buzz, no matter how slight, is inseparable from any level of alcohol consumption and even for you few oddballs who truly feel that you'd drink beer if it provided 0 buzz... well it's a pointless hypothetical because it's just not possible.

 

So when I go out to eat and have a 1 or maybe 2 good beers with my meal which are not enough to get a buzz what am I doing wrong? Am I supposed to always slam a couple more so I can 'feel the buzz'?

I like the flavor and seldom have more than a beer or two at a time and there are more days that I don't have any beer than there are days when I do. By your standards I like beer and that is just plain wrong.

 

There's that perfect buzz sweet spot that for me is usually somewhere between 24-36oz of 5-7%abv beer. Everything feels just slightly lifted and no impairment has set in. Wish I could prolong that for the entire time I wanted to drink. Not much of a fan of creeping closer to actual drunkenness these days. Usually I'll max out @ about double what I listed there on a weekend.

I totally believe there are people that couldn't care less about the buzz though.

 

So drinking 900 calories of beverage is ok for your health and bodyweight as long as it gets you a buzz ?

And for what it's worth, I too work my ass off. I put beer in the same bucket as everything else I eat or drink; I have it because I enjoy it and it tastes good. Sometimes that means if I have a beer, I'll cut back on some other thing I enjoy or vice-versa.

Reminds me of the Mitchell and Webb sketch called “The Inebriati”

 

no abv not much taste, IMHO.