Scots Taffer on 5/6/2014 at 02:23

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I'm 32 and a couple of glasses of wine with dinner kind of guy, pretty much every day. This is an increase from what used to be a 3 or 4 day a week habit.

I have a stressful job and busy life so for me it's all about providing an easy insta-unwind. I've always been aware that it's not the healthiest choice and exercise would be better, but with a full time job and school runs, I've very little time. I love to run, but finding the time is a huge problem for me.

I tend not to go harder than 2 glasses unless it's a function, birthday or a big catch up with mates who I haven't seen in ages. So whilst it's above what's (probably) recommended (though who can recommend what levels of alcohol are appropriate in general when so much depends upon your genetics/mass/ability to handle it etc), I didn't have a big issue with it. And arguably my doctor still doesn't have an issue with it, my cholesterol, blood pressure, liver function, etc are all in excellent shape. I'm choosing to enforce something here for a bit of a sea change because my personal/professional challenges have increased and so compounding that reliance on alcohol for relaxation is a link I'd like to break now.

I've never used alcohol for insomnia or sleeping, which is good because I've been an insomniac/night owl for most of my adult life. I just deal with less sleep than others.

SubJeff on 5/6/2014 at 02:29

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Too young? Age has nothing to do with it. I was like you Brethren - I felt I could take it or leave it. I've always been the lightweight and one day, when I'd had much more to drink than my friends and yet I was the one sober enough to marshal the others into taxis and across London on the tube, I thought "whoa, what the f is going on here then?". I realised my tolerance had become nuts (I'd been on high percent German beers and had about 15 pints and didn't feel impaired) and that it was just time.

But I'd go days without it and not have an issue. It creeps up on you. Like you Scots I was winding down with a drink or two most nights. My long term relationship had ended too. The new one is the best thing ever.

Props for realising you were going down the bad path dethtoll.

And regardless, if I meet any of you it's still the perfect excuse for bad behaviours! :p

Renault on 5/6/2014 at 03:14

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I don't think I ever start drinking to get drunk or buzzed or anything like that. I love good craft beer, and that's how it usually begins. After a while though, yeah, I usually drink a bit too much just to keep it all going - I guess at that point all reason has left the building. But I don't remember an instance recently where I was like - man, what a shitty day. I really need a drink. It's more like, hmm, a good wheat beer sounds great right now.

So, what's everyone else's poison? Like I said, good beer here - ironically, I live in Milwaukee, WI, home of Miller Brewing, some of the worst macro beer around. I do dabble a bit with homebrewing too. Never touch wine or the hard stuff. As far as tolerance, I can hold my own on a full stomach, although the days of shots and shotgunning are long gone.

SubJeff on 5/6/2014 at 04:27

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Gluten issues? My brother recently (last year) developed that and so no longer drinks beer. Like you he only drinks wine, but he drinks crappy wine or cider.

I know nothing about wine, apart from that I don't like Rioja (though I'm told the stuff we get here is bad) and I know when I like a wine. I don't drink white usually because I get jaw pain from it, even though I like both red and white.

My poison is German wheat beer. Karg is my favourite but its hard to get here in unpasteurised form. I like dunkels too and in the UK you can get a whole range of bottled German stuff that varies greatly in quality and which comes in weiss and dunkel forms. It's much easier to get on the continent (natch) and I'm lucky because I go there a lot (Italy last week, Berlin this weekend, France end of the month, Greece the month after, Spain after that...) so I get to have a bit now and then.

I drink far, far, faaaar less than I used to though and the Italy trip was to Tuscany for a friend's wedding. I had 4 glasses of wine, 2 glasses of champaign and a mojito and I was in another dimension. Most I've had in for about 3 years! I also usually drink with meals. We've been invited for "drinks" a few times recently and I'm just not that into going somewhere to drink alcohol anymore. I'll happily go to a nice restaurant and spend hours after the meal socialising and drinking (slowly) at the table, but mmm-dish mmm-dish mmm-dish plus drinking.. meh.

Scots Taffer on 5/6/2014 at 06:47

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Not confirmed but I believe it is a hops allergy.