Last Orders

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Guinness Zero

With reference to your article “Afternoon drinkers don’t want early road checks hanging over them” (March 4th), it occurs to me, as a non-drinker who still enjoys a visit to the pub, that the Vinters’ Association, in conjunction with the drinks industry, could do more to expand and introduce more non-alcoholic options of beers, wines and spirits, which would help fight the decline in the falling number of drinkers in our pubs, particularly those in rural areas.

As an advocate of non-alcoholic drinks, I have found over the last few months that there are a number of good non-alcoholic beers available. However, when I visit a pub, there are very few options for sale.

With the possibility of a near-zero alcohol limit, it is time for pubs, restaurants and hotels to gear up and stock a larger range of non-alcoholic alternatives.

I contacted Diageo concerning their product Guinness Zero, a non-alcoholic stout which is widely for sale in Indonesia. It told me there were no plans to launch this brand in Ireland.

However, Diageo is now investing in an alcohol-free martini called Seedlip. Diageo obviously sees the benefit of exploring this market.

And if Heineken can produce Heineken Light, then why not Heineken Zero!

Mary O’Connor,
Midleton,
Co Cork.

Hic!

Making pubs better for non-drinkers (The Irish Times letters page)

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30 thoughts on “Last Orders

  1. MoyestWithExcitement

    Maybe the multi national worth hundreds of millions has done some research and concluded that the market for non alcoholic beer and wine (ever hear of mi wadi?) in Ireland isn’t big enough to invest millions of euros into?

  2. On The Buses

    They sell booze, They have an interest in selling alcohol-free booze. The reason people don’t drink 8 alcohol free beers or a bottle or two of alcohol free wine is because wine and beer all taste horrible, and the only reason people are drinking them is to get the alcohol from the,

    1. On The Buses

      -They *don’t* have an interesing in selling alcohol-free booze

      – […] is to the alcohol from *them*

    2. Janet, I ate my avatar

      I’m off the drink a while but have fond memories of a good médoc.
      I used to like the taste of a crisp German larger on a sunny day.
      But the non alcohol efforts ARE poor taste wise and are not strictly alcohol free.

      1. Ada

        Bavaria do a 0.0% wit beer that I found difficult to differentiate from Hoegaarden in a “Pepsi chsllenge” style taste test.

        1. scottser

          the erdinger alcohol-free is pretty tasty too. you wouldn’t know the difference if you were drinking it with a burger or a steak.

  3. Zaccone

    Non-alcoholic beers are also a huge rip-off in pubs currently. If a normal pint costs approx 5eur, but 3eur of that is tax on its alcohol content, then why does a non-alcoholic pint also cost 5eur?

    I’d rather have a 0eur pint of water please.

    1. Sparks

      Not just non-alcoholic beers! Any soft drinks, and even mineral water, are grossly overpriced compared with the price of alcoholic drinks. The only possible reason for this is that they’d prefer to sell booze.

    2. lolly

      stripping alcohol out of a beer isn’t easy to do so that may be part of the cost. However a broader point is that the alcohol is a necessary component of the flavour, texture and character of the drink. I did a blind taste test of almost all of them a while back and found every one of them utterly undrinkable with downright unpleasant flavours.

  4. kid jensen

    seedlip is well over €20 a bottle. most non alcoholic beer in pubs is the same price as their alcoholic equivalent but is actually cheaper in off licences vis a vis the alcoholic variant

  5. Cillbot

    The woman has a point – drinking soft drinks or mi wadi is nearly as bad. Im off booze for lent so Ill have one bottle of alc free Paulaner (isotonic apparently) and then just get some boiled water and lemon and then have a few ginger teas so no-one is bothered by my lack of imbibement. Much better than spending a fortune on lucozade.

    1. Birneybau2

      Also, numerous bottles of Lucozade have a laxative effect, which I found out to my peril while walking on a beach a few years ago, having watched a match in the pub earlier.

    2. Clampers Outside!

      Aye… my tip – stay away from the sugary minerals if out for the night with no booze. A feed of cokes will give some headache :/ …for me anyway.

      Cidona all the way when available in the pub. It has a decent flavour, and it won’t coat your mouth in sugar by the end of the night, if you drink a few of them :)

      1. Sheik Yahbouti

        Don’t see the point of these things. Even worse is ‘de-caffeinated coffee ‘ which someone once gave me. Abomination.

  6. Bingo

    Bad enough that a lot of pubs are now restaurants and/or childcare facilities, now people want to dilute them further with crappy non-alcoholic beers and fruit juices….WTF???

    Ok, I’m being a bit ridiculous.
    As a former boozer, I find that the relatively high price and lack of choices for non-drinkers is a bit of a turn-off.
    But guess what, the booze industry doesn’t want my arse filling the barstool of a fella that’ll lower 9 pints of beer over the course of a Sunday watching football on the box!
    Alcohol (and ‘the craic’) is addictive and he’ll be back again for more of it!
    Cash is what it’s all about.

    Anyway, I spend an average of 2-3 hours in a pub when I go out.
    I might buy two or three sparking waters (€2.50ea) but once the pub starts to fill up, the volume is raised and the words turn to gibberish, I’m out the door.
    Under a tenner for a few hours of talking nonsense with mates isn’t the worst value when it comes to entertainment!

    1. Janet, I ate my avatar

      I’m aye home before the witching hour meself, happy to hang sober until that point then meuh

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