How important is the "buzz"?

My wife and I have this discussion regularly. There are many times I would love to have a refreshing gose/hefe/berliner for lunch during work hours without the alcohol. But there are just as many times that I want a beer at the end of the day for the taste and the buzz. What's not to love about that perfect spot where you feel warm and happy while sipping on your favorite brew.

 

It's purely hypothetical of course, but I'm pretty sure that if all beer magically became 0% ABV, but tasted exactly the same, then maybe my consumption wouldn't stop altogether, but it would decrease dramatically.

 

annoyance, really? C'mon.
what happened to live and let live?
I'm one of those "annoying" people. The difference is that I don't give a shit how YOU feel about the buzz, but apparently somehow MY feelings cause you some level of discomfort?

again, c'mon.
cheers--
--Michael

Edit - sorry, if I'd kept reading this inane thread I'd have seen you backed off on your original statement.

 

Yeah dude beer saves lives ... well umm yes, but well umm... ah hell it tastes good so lets just drink

 

Really? I think you are wrong about that "here and now" comment, you assumed, not observed, it from the post. You have said you enjoy the buzz occasionally. Others have said they never have enjoyed the buzz, and it never has been a reason they drink beer, which also means it played no factor in why they started or continued. This is as basic to the discussion as you can get. Either it was taste and buzz, just buzz, or just taste that influenced someone to continue to drink beer. I have called out the ones who say "just taste, nothing else" as liars. That still is my opinion.

It really does seem like some folks here have a problem admitting they might actually like the feeling of being a bit buzzed, to the point of making untrue claims. It happens every time this subject has come up over the years. Some of us are ready each time to call these folks out, and in fact I think it is hilarious the thought contortions they undergo trying to support the claims after we do.

 

I get that but for different reasons! In the UK we have a very strict drink drive law and rightly so!!! I would love to have a beer that tasted the same but had zero ABV so I could have a few tasty ones after work and then be able to drive home... but as Todd points out that is never going to happen it would not taste the same.

I also agree with the second point that the end of the day warm buzz that comes from a great brew is nice and I'm never going to claim that I don't enjoy that side of beer too...

 

I fully hear what you are saying and I for one have to admit I started drinking as a young guy purely to get drunk (truth be told I actually drank tonic wine for that reason... sorry folks)... I grew into enjoying the taste of beer as I got older. Now I don't like getting drunk I hate the feeling of losing control but a buzz can be good, but I prefer it in moderation.

 

If beer had 0% ABV and tasted exactly the same it would have almost no calories, so I would chug it like water all day.

And I'd drink mixed drinks for the buzz.

 

The can o' worms is fully open up in here...

 

Considering that our brains are set up to generate mood-altering substances that can give all kinds of different "buzz" sensations based upon various stimuli, I think that it is indeed important to pay attention to the reasons why we imbibe. I usually select the very first beer I drink when at home because of a craving for the flavor + the sensation of that first brew. The second one may be similarly-motivated. However, if I continue to have more as the day progresses, it becomes a bit more about sustaining the mood than it does about satisfying the desire for a particular flavor sensation.

Eating food when you're hungry generates a buzz. Drinking coffee, tea, or yerba maté elicits various kinds of reactions to the caffeine. Consuming a box of Cheez-Its can unleash a host of endorphins upon the brain. Exercising, going outside on a sunny day, almost dying in a heart-stopping car crash on the freeway - all of these things can generate a buzz. Whatever the "buzz" is, everybody experiences it on some level.

 

Are we talking about buckie here?

 

It sure was... hate the smell of it now throwing it up helps were that is concerned...

 

Craft beer tastes great...everyone here can agree on that. Now ask yourself would you plan a vacation/trip around brewery locations, spend hundreds of dollars a month, drop everything for limited releases...for anything other than alcohol?!?! No! There are plenty of great tasting alcohol free beverages that majority of the world and even us BAs could admit taste better than beer. However I don't feel like any of us would drop $10-20 of a bomber of juice. Just stop lying to yourself...if KBS had 0% abv you wouldn't go crazy about it. Please stop acting like every time you drink a beer it's a tasting ritual...you're acting like an overly pretentious moron.

 

This argument is honestly the equivalent of a smoker saying I only spend around $80 a week on cigarettes bc I look cool and enjoy cigarette smoke. Or I drink pop and energy drinks every day because they taste delicious but I sure hate that jittery feeling they give me. Get real people you're in denial.

 

Alcohol is definitely a factor for me with beer, but if I'm planning brewery trip, it's not on the basis that "yay I can't wait to get there so I can get hammered", and when I do get hold of a KBS, i'm not shotgunning it to get the alcohol into my bloodstream as quickly as possible

Sounds to me like we agree that taste and alcohol both play a part, but within that group we're at opposite ends of the spectrum if you think of beer drinking to be on the same level as smoking cigarettes:

we agree that smokers (I am a former one) are addicted to nicotine here right?

 

@rollom it is exactly like smoking cigarettes! The only difference being you can smoke and operate a vehicle so you have to drink at certain times. However I don't see smokers trading cigarettes, planning trips, posting pics, members of a forum, freaking out over highly acclaimed cigarettes...etc If you drink every day it's not because of taste alone. We are all mildly addicted here the difference is some of us are willing to admit it and other snobby idiots refuse. By no means am I implying that any of us need help but to say it's not an addiction and it's not influenced by alcohol is plain stupid. Ice cream is also great would you eat it every day or do half the other outrageous things you do for beer? No! Btw nobody is talking about putting high quality beer in a beer bong simply to get wasted. Stop acting like those of us that aren't lying to ourselves are mindless idiots pounding bottles of the highest abv beers out there.

 

Unless a person falls under the criteria set forth in the DSM IV concerning alcohol dependency, I really think you should rethink your false assumption that we are all addicted to alcohol, even as you put it, "mildly".

 

Haha - dude I think even the more vocal people on the "pro-buzz or you're lying" side of the argument in this thread would disagree with you.

A smoker (not talking about the person who has one cigarette when drunk twice a year, but the person dropping $80 a week per your previous post) is addicted to nicotine - deciding not to smoke on a given day is not an option. By all means speak for yourself and voice your opinions, but although I appreciate a light buzz, and take it as the overall experience of having a beer, I do not need to drink beer. I don't drink beer 2-3 days each week, and sometimes go without for longer.

Edit - I guess good for you if you can come out and say you're mildly addicted to alcohol, but don't assume everyone is on the same boat as you.

 

I have found that there is a mind set that goes with a pleasant drink. It's something civilized . . . it's something you want to share. I mean think about it. At the table when you pour the wine or the beer don't people look up and smile? Well they should and they all know why they are smiling. There's a buzz. A feeling of leisure, and expansiveness, a song in the heart and a bit of conversation that is animated and lively. All because there is alcohol in that beverage. It is something to look forward to. It is gregarious and celebratory as we have all proven with WBAYDN.

 

A couple of times a week, my son will stop over and he and I will sit down to watch tv together and have a beer. One beer.
Are you suggesting we drink that one single beer together (this week, it has been 'Gansett coffee milk stout, at 5.3% abv, 12 oz bottle) over the course of an hour because getting buzzed is on both of our agendas?

We also meet up some mornings for coffee. He with his regular coffe and mine decaf. Directly paralleling the "buzz for beer" conversation, would you suggest I drink that decaf coffee with him because of the caffeine?