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Comment by geebee | Hacker News Reader

Have you considered very low alcohol beers? I remember one called, amusingly, "commercial suicide". it was a bit difficult to find. ABV was 3.3%

https://jesterkingbrewery.com/main-blog/commercial-suicide-b...

Becks also has an unusually low alcohol content beer, Beck's 'premier light' which is 2.3%.

That may still be too high for you though, and for people who must never touch alcohol, even 2.3% is probably a bad idea.

Neither of these or anything like them are likely to be served in a bar, so for socializing, probably not a helpful option anyway.

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These really are my sweet spot. I'm a very cerebral person (for better and neurotic worse) and the "dumbing" effect of alcohol is sometimes welcome but often comes on too strong. ~2.5% beers are something I can enjoy.

just mix a regular 5% beer with lemonade, as many people do in summer

If someone is trying to cut back on alcohol consumption I don't think that's necessarily good advice. Sweet drinks like lemonade are so easy for me to suck down without thinking.

I think it was in reference to my 2.5% comment. For me, the sweetness of most juices isn't a good thing, so it works for me. ymmv

I strongly prefer DIY lemonade, exactly because I've got full control over the sweetness. (and throwing in a few fresh mint leaves is a nice touch, too..)

Just pick up a small bottle of 100% pure lemon juice, add about a half the bottle to a quart of water, ymmv, and whatever (brown!) sugar and other stuff you want.

Personally speaking, the carbonation in shandies prevents me from chugging them down. Besides, when I prepare them myself I tend to water down the mixer a bit, otherwise they end up being a little too sweet to my taste.

Hot beverages are a lot harder to suck down. I try to start most mornings with a hot cup of sencha or oolong tea, but there's a lot of good, hot options like chrysanthemum, ginger, or lime.

Might sound strange, but beer and tomato juice is also nice if you want something more savory vs sweet. Possibly a Canadian thing.

It’s a Mexican thing too - Michelada

There a place near me that makes micheladas (beer, Worcestershire, lime, hot sauce), with an added splash of tomato juice. My wife has fallen in love with them and it’s her regular around the house adult beverage .

If you have a chance to try it with Clamato, I highly recommend it. I never thought I'd say "the clam juice really adds something", but well, it does.

Tons of brunch places in CA that don't have hard liquor offer a beer bloody mary which is pretty close.

A brewery near me did a run of "Tomato Gose" which I really liked and then followed by "Clamato" which was interesting... and I learned that clam juice is a thing in Canada.

https://untappd.com/b/perivale-brewery-tomato-gose/3801467

This combination is what Germans call a Radler, which translates to "cyclist": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shandy#Radler

and if you mix it with coke, its called a 'Neger' (negro in english). at least in bavaria and parts of Austria.

Sorry, I am not trying to be funny or anything, but by "coke" do you mean soft drinks or cocaine?

You can of course mix beer with cocaine, but I guess it's better to mix them inside your body, by taking each of them separately the normal way. The parent was talking about cocacola.

+1 to lemonade shandies if you're feeling like limiting alcohol intake for an evening. They're actually a good way to enjoy aggressively hoppy IPAs if you find those a bit tough to drink neat.

Brits call this a shandy. Very refreshing at music festivals.

Kvas(1), a fermented bread drink from Russia and Ukraine, might fit the bill with its alcohol content of 0.5-1% (it’s considered a non-alcoholic drink, but I’ve had Kvas that was _strong_).

There’s nothing better than cold kvas on a hot day - shame we can’t just buy it in the supermarket here in America.

1: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kvass

I don't know anyone who buys it. It's easy to make at home.

I’ve gone the other way, I have one extremely good beer (usually a 10% or more Russian Imperial Stout) instead of 6 bottles of ipa..

Seems to work for me ;)

(If anyone else likes a good RIS try Lemke’s one if you’re in Berlin)

Can't agree with you enough here. It's something I've learned as an adult when it comes to alcohol - better to have that one good beer or wine, enjoy the taste and the feel of it, than to drink more of mediocre stuff.

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