If beer had no alcohol...

My answer hasn't changed since last time this came up, despite people not believing me. The alcohol is, 90% of the time, entirely incidental to me. I would drink it just as often, perhaps more. I'm not into craft beer to get drunk or buzzed, I'm in it for the awesome flavors. Sometimes, it's nice to get a nice buzz going, but in those cases I'd just as readily drink wine or liquor if beer didn't have alcohol anymore.

 

This is a hypothetical. He's saying if it tasted exactly the same but didn't get you drunk. Obviously this isn't possible, but that's why it's hypothetical.

 

the evidence suggests not, before i discovered craft beer i was into wine,not gourmet soda's. ❨which yes, is a thing)

 

I'm curious for those of us who chose "No, whats the point" like I did, what alcoholic beverage would you switch to?

Right now beer is the only alcohol I drink and I've never really enjoyed harder alcohol like whiskey and vodka.

 

Depends on the price. No alcohol I wouldn't pay as much, but if it were cheaper I'd probably drink the same amount. Don't think I would drink any more though.

 

I already drink ENOUGH... both beer and coffee!!! I just cannot envision putting down a bottle of Vintage Cabernet damn near every night during baseball season!!!
So no, I would not drink it!!!

 

....Brewers would just have to add a step to the process to add varying amounts of grain alcohol to the brew post ferment....problem solved -- whoa that was a close one.

 

Right on. I think the people that voted for "Yes, and more frequently" are underestimating the full experience of truly great beer. It includes alcohol and its ok to love it!

 

I'd drink more bourbon.

 

alcohol will always be the reason beer (or wine, or spirits) are consumed. Anyone who disputes this is in conflict with their nature

 

If there were no alcohol in beer, I'd still be a whiskey drinker.

 

I'd get one of those fancy new alcohol free stouts and throw a shot of bourbon in it...mmmmm

 

Taste is very important to me and it would still pair well with food without the alcohol but I believe for sure I would consume less and spend less if there was no alcohol in it.

 

If it tastes the same sure, but alcohol does provide a unique flavor and feel to a lot of beers.

 

The same in every way,No sir, I would not drink a drop. I pay for the buzz and I pay copious amounts of money for it, so if the price was the same there is no way i would pay $10+ for a bomber with no buzz. Now if it was reasonably cheaper and everything else was the same, I would drink it all day long. I would switch styles all day long, especially if my work no longer had a zero suspect policy on alcohol use at work .

 

I'd drink about the same and make a Boilermaker (beer cocktail).
Maybe have a Depth Charge.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boilermaker_(beer_cocktail)

 

If beer didn't have alcohol it would be soda pop. So, non alcoholic Two Hearted v Pepsi, Two Hearted all the time. But I wouldn't feel the same about it. But for this kind of question to be valid, we have to assume that there would be something in Nature that would prevent the formation of alcohol, after all, who would brew a perfectly good alcoholic beverage and then ruin it with additional process to remove the alcohol? What would be the point? So, lets assume that yeast did not exist. Without it, we would have no alcoholic beer. Without real beer there could be no distilled spirits of any kind. And there would be no wine, only grape juice. We would all be fucked. Really fucked. We would still be living in caves. Fortunately God loves us, and gave us real beer.

 

... I'd never drink it.

 

I'll happily admit that I enjoy the buzz that alcohol brings, and also the social aspect that can often go with it. I enjoy everything about good/craft beer; the aroma; taste; mouth feel; and etc...but...yes...the buzz is a desirable effect of drinking said good/craft beer -- whether I'm drinking with friends or having a few at home by myself. To answer your question, I'd probably drink a lot less to no beer without the alcohol.

 

as with most conversations, things get over intellectualized. "no man, I really dig the balance of the hops with the malt, etc etc etc". I gotta call bullshit. Biology 101....alcohol hits home runs in all the brain's pleasure centers. It calms us, it makes us feel pleasure, it relaxes us.....we all learned that with our first Budweiser. From there forward, we decided we wanted an intellectual experience, a sophisticated delivery elixer for our alcohol. Voila! The craft beer movement was born. (though in full disclosure, this experience all took place thousands of years ago, we've just refined the alcohol flavoring industry)