I was a typical 70's binge drinker as a kid. Same thing through college and my Africa years. Had a couple of close DWI calls in my late 20's early 30's.
Drinking pretty much tapered off to nothing in my married/fatherhood decades.
Now that I'm back on my own I'm finding alcohol gives me no joy at all. It feels like injecting novocaine into my brain, a dead feeling.
Just as well because I got a family tree littered with alcoholics and I wouldn't want to be some old guy sitting at home alone, drunk.
The only thing I lack is real opportunity. Don't find I want one on regular day to day basis, unlike my younger days.
But, if I have a fire going in the pit, it seems wrong not to have a beer.
Or if I had an opportunity to sit in a honkey tonk and listen to live music, I'm drinking.
Or rained out on an Elk hunt in Vale, with a couple blokes - I'll enjoy drinking.
But I enjoy the taste of porters, darks, etc. Yeungling is about as commonplace as I get. Anything else is hopps flavored kool aid, and I have lost my taste for that.
And I used to be a big scotch fan, but not so much anymore.
That said, I will put a hurting on a bottle of kahlua - if its there, its hit. And I can probably drain it, straight, in a sitting.
Just turned 50 and yes just about everything has changed for me from decades prior.
I like a nice glass of wine Every so often during dinner. Also a cold beer after a hard hot project has been completed or worked on. A neat coupla drams of whisky now and again later in the evening when reflecting on my life as well,
I suspect maybe one or two drinks a week on average. Nothing like back in my 20s or 30s.
after I had my heart attack, I lost all taste for beer and booze. Doctor said it was the combination of medicines I was taking. Thank goodness that is behind me now. I am back to loving beer, and really liking Bourbon and Rum.
some folks are 'addictive'. They seem to get hooked on booze or drugs immediately. I can drink heavy, and stop. Coffee, booze and what have you. Just no addiction at all, no matter how hard I 'abuse' the stuff.
Never really developed a taste for it. A brief period during military service I put away a bit daily. When offered a drink during social activites now, I take it. Have none at home.
A number of years ago my dentist recommended that I start a regimen of mouthwash, suggesting some anti-this-and-that version of Listerine. When I came back in 6 months, he asked me how I was doing with the mouthwash, and I told him I'd not like the taste of the stuff he'd recommended, but that I'd found an all-natural replacement. He complimented me on my gums and asked what I was using.
"It's imported from Scotland," I said. "It's made from all-natural ingredients, and it's so good for you, you're allowed to swallow it. Besides, it's about half the price of that Listerine stuff."
"That's incredible," he replied. "What is it? I think we'll start using it here."
"Scoresby," I said. "About $20 a half-gallon."
"Scoresby? I've never seen it in the drug store"
"Yes, and you don't buy it at the drug store, you buy it at a liquor store and I use it every night just before I eat my dinner. I'm sure if you start using it in the office, you'll be the favorite dentist on the Westside of town."
So there you have it! If anyone wants to know, it's because my dentist told me to.
A wee dram of Scotch every night for me and KYHillChick. It's a good tonic, and definately improves the end of the day.
I was a heavy drinker up into my mid-30s. When I met my second wife drinking began to tone down and it pretty much disappeared 5 years later. I still have a drink socially or if out for dinner but that is pretty rare. I don't drink after hunting much as many of my hunting partners are recovering alcoholics and I don't want to tempt them.
I still like alcohol but do not "need" it as I once did. Getting into a serious relationship and then marriage put a damper on consumption. Probably the same with most others of sound mind as responsibilities took precedence over hobbies.
Anything stronger than a beer or glass of red wine, and my body hates it these days. A hard drink too late in the evening and I'll wake up in the middle of night, burning up. If I drink a whisky earlier in the evening , I'll sleep okay but can still feel it a bit the next day, much like I feel the day after eating a big supper of fried food or other junk.
A couple beers on a Friday evening or a Saturday is about all my system wants, and I try to avoid it during the week. Does make it taste better when I do feel like having something.
After returning from a prolonged trip through the west last month, which involved a lot of social alcohol consumption, I am on the wagon. My new diet doesn't include most of the libations that I would consume. I am not missing it. We'll see how long this lasts...
Can't lose a taste that you never had in the first place.
Ain't that the truth?
Haven't been drunk since I was 18. No particular reasons, other than I just seem to get along better without alcohol. That, and I've seen what alcoholism can do to a family by having a drink for a dad.
I was a typical 70's binge drinker as a kid. Same thing through college and my Africa years. Had a couple of close DWI calls in my late 20's early 30's.
Drinking pretty much tapered off to nothing in my married/fatherhood decades.
Now that I'm back on my own I'm finding alcohol gives me no joy at all. It feels like injecting novocaine into my brain, a dead feeling.
Just as well because I got a family tree littered with alcoholics and I wouldn't want to be some old guy sitting at home alone, drunk.
I mean, we have the innernet for that nowadays
I gave up the alcohol completely, I just drink scotch these days.
Love a good PA or two daily from about April to October and then switch to a shot or two of good whiskey for the remainder of the year, bout all I need.
I have a drink of something or other every day, whether I need it or not. Last night was a nice glass of cognac. Lovely on the first cold evening of the year, while reading Ted Kerasote's "Bloodties".
I've been tipsy a few times in the last 25 years, but haven't done drunk since freshman year in college.
I never could stand the taste of beer. Any beer. I did some drinking in my 20's and after one particularly vicious hangover I swore off alcohol.
My career in corrections pretty much cemented my distaste for drinking and drunks. After seeing what alcohol did to many families and having to fight drunks during intake, drinking lost what little appeal it might have had left.
So there you have it! If anyone wants to know, it's because my dentist told me to..
Had a doctor actually recommend bit of scotch as needed for my migraines. None of the $25 a pill prescriptions worked and this was his fall back recommendation. It actually does help. Can't be trashy scotch though...
A small amount of alcohol really can help mitigate a headache or other small aches and pains. Folks just tend to think if some is good, more is better. I have a 750 ml bottle of Jagermeister and a shot glass in the freezer kept for such occasions. It was purchased sometime in the spring of 2016 and there is still over half left. I'm one who doesn't like at all the fuzzy feeling alcohol gives you but one cold beer in the summer is good, sometimes. Mostly it's better with a sandwich.
in my 20's i guzzled beer. and had a thing for bourbon. I was sitting in a class one day on addictions, part of a law enforcement thing i was in, and a psychologist asked how much he drank and how often. I said i drank every day, and about a liter and a half of bourbon a week, But i never missed work or had any problems. He said i was a functional alcoholic. I thought he was full of caca. But i do have alcoholics in the family. Week or two later typical deer hunting trip rolled around, with mucho alcohol available. I wondered if the psych guy had a point so i didn't drink. About six months later i remember psych guy and mixed a drink, didn't finish it. He was wrong. I have a oz or two of bourbon in about a half of quart of diet coke every fourth of july, that's about it. I just lost my taste for it.
I never found a beer I actually liked. Some were drinkable, but would not have been my choice of beverage. I like mead, and some of the harder stuff, but never like the feeling of being out of my own control. I never drink at all, if I will be driving.
I like beer, and I don't need any time or reason for drinking it. I will drink wine with a meal now and then and never touch the hard stuff. I flat don't like the bitty taste of it. At 65 years of age my taste for beer has not changed since I was a teenager. 3.2 in Kansas where I grew up. Cheers mates!
Birdwatcher, same here. I was also a binge drinker until married then fatherhood. I doubt if I've drank so much as a case of beer in the last 30+ years. Just completely lost the taste for it.
I never could stand the taste of beer. Any beer. I did some drinking in my 20's and after one particularly vicious hangover I swore off alcohol.
My career in corrections pretty much cemented my distaste for drinking and drunks. After seeing what alcohol did to many families and having to fight drunks during intake, drinking lost what little appeal it might have had left.
That's interesting. I think my moderation in alcohol comes from working as a bouncer during college. Being drunk lost all of it's charm after tossing a few out. .
Drank beer as an underage teen, continued through college and beyond. Drank regularly, rarely to excess. By the time I hit 40, the only drinking I did was at my parent's kitchen table, after hunting or fishing with my dad. When he died, I quit. There is no one else who I want to have a drink with.
Have never had much of a desire for what north America calls beer. Some micro's, my own home brews, and many European brands go down easily though and are near a meal in themselves. With a good dinnerl, on a hot day, or after a full day of heavy work an over sized mixed drink hits the spot too. Never been a heavy drinker ever. Probably put one down every three weeks or so. Pretty much a nightly thing in elk camp or on river trips when it's warm. Haven't done any of those "never againers" since about 1970 when I was about to head off to Da Nang for the last time.
Drink wine. This is life eternal. This is all that youth will give you. It is the season for wine, roses and drunken friends. Be happy for this moment. This moment is your life
I never could stand the taste of beer. Any beer. I did some drinking in my 20's and after one particularly vicious hangover I swore off alcohol.
My career in corrections pretty much cemented my distaste for drinking and drunks. After seeing what alcohol did to many families and having to fight drunks during intake, drinking lost what little appeal it might have had left.
My situation was very similar. Never did like any alcohol, but did attend parties in my younger years where it was expected. I avoided it best I could.
I graduated earning a degree in Mortuary Science and working at the funeral home proved the misery and heartache it caused in many lives. Just like smoking and bringing a known carcinogen into your oxygen exchange system, why would anyone want to introduce alcohol into their system to be depressed, unable to function correctly, or slow reaction speeds? I never did get it, but I suppose I never will. Buried and cremated one s***load of them.
I drank like a fish for years. I loved the honky tonks and saloons, the dirtier and rougher the better. Never imagined there'd be a time when I'd choose a 10 year old girls softball practice or game over going to the saloon. As I grew up and my children got older I found myself choosing spending time with my family clear headed was more enjoyable than drinking with hell raisers. It wasn't a conscious choice just something that happened and I'm glad that it did. I've had maybe 8 beers all year which wasn't even a starting point in the past. Now when I drink it's my choice and it's fun, not compulsory like it was in the past and I don't drink with the same intentions of my younger years. The mornings are infinitely easier and I don't miss the things that make life worth living.
I have never really been a devotee of alcohol. On rare occasions, I will accept a drink if offered and enjoy it, but I do not go out of my way to obtain one. If alcoholic drinks were to suddenly disappear, it would not cause me any distress. This is not to suggest any superiority on my part or to say that no one should enjoy alcohol, just expressing my feelings on the matter.
Cut down tremendously when I became old enough to drink legally, but still had the occasional bender. Stopped that about the time I hit 30. Can only think of a couple of times I even got buzzed in the last 10 years. Might have 3 beers in a night if sitting out with the neighbors, probably average about 3 beers a week though.
I too come from a long proud line of alcoholics....on both sides of my fam. Family get-togethers are great fun.
I've always been a "take it or leave it" kind of guy. I could have 4/6 beers after work everyday for a week. Then not have any alcohol for weeks. At the ripe old age of 42, I hardly drink at all anymore. Have a few beers here and there. Probably a case of beer a year, if that. Capitan and Coke at weddings though, two at a time....being joyous occasions and all!
Arrhythmia issues caused me to abstain for a couple of years. Now, I've completely lost the taste for the hard stuff. A couple of beers once or twice a week and that's it.
I haven't lost the taste, just the ability to recover fast after to many. But like most here family and watching and coaching my boys took priority. Still find time to get after it once in a while, but nothing like my i used to.
After spending the first 35 years of my adult life looking at the world from inside a brown bottle, I completely quit almost 26 years ago. Amazing how much extra money I have to spend on gunsnammo and I really enjoy getting up in the morning bright eyed and bushy tailed.
Never one to heavily drink, Nowadays more of a social drinker and usually at hunting camp or during a football game. The rest of the time unsweetened ice tea, orange juice or a sprite zero. Liquor companies are not going to get rich off of me.
My best friend and exboss drank and smoked so much it literally turned me off to drinking. I never smoked
Oct 30 1998......life is too short to piss your money down the toilet and waste a day of your life hung the fugg over from the "good time" the night before.
I like to drink. Don't do it as often or hard these days, but still do it. Beer on my deck with ironbender?? Good stuff
nightly toddy at hunting camp with pards, Great stuff
nieces going away party Saturday night. 6 of us killed a half gallon of tequila, overheard my son talking to his cousin, I've never seen my dad [bleep], would like to see what he's like that way. If I have my way ain't liable to happen. Getting a good buzz, great stuff.
getting fallin down drunk? No thanks you can have it, btdt and the tee shirt don't fit so well anymore.
My parents were problem drinkers while I was still at home. So, I had, and have, every reason to avoid or minimize alcohol. Maybe six shots a year, a six pack total per year, usually associated with a HOT day of hard work or an occasion. I've saved a LOT of money not buying booze. Applied it toward power tools, power toys, and guns.
You heard of the guy that developed a taste for brake fluid? Guzzled it by the pint. I told him it couldn't be good for him, but he swore he could stop anytime......
I've slowed down over the years but don't even think about waking me up before 10:00 without a fifth under my nose. I do my best work after at least a quart of whiskey and a few beer chasers if customers are around.
I've slowed down over the years but don't even think about waking me up before 10:00 without a fifth under my nose. I do my best work after at least a quart of whiskey and a few beer chasers if customers are around.
My best friend and exboss drank and smoked so much it literally turned me off to drinking. I never smoked
That can really do it. I enjoy a good beer, sometimes two, but after watching a close friend drink himself to the point where his organs were failing and his skin was splitting - due to said failures and consequent fluid retention, I don't have the stomach for "fun" drinking anymore. I'm so boring I quit after a couple fingers of scotch or fall asleep (well) after a bit of tawny port.
My family tree has alcohol um, "misuse" problems on both sides.... 30 something years ago they started deposits on beer bottles.... I put a big contractor bag under the sink and started tossing the empties into it.... I was a professional person living in a small town.
It took quit awhile to fill the bag up with empties. While I was walking into the store with the large rattling bag of bottles, looking like Santa headed out on the big night I suddenly started to feel self conscious. The woman counting out the number of returns looked at me "funny"....
I figured the only way to be sure I didn't end up like some of my relatives did was to stop drinking. It really was not a hard thing for me to do. I'm not sure if I would have made the none at all choice if craft micro breweries had been around back then... really good beer is a pleasure for sure.
One thing I have noticed though is that some people should not drink at all... ever. I saw a tee shirt once that said, "Instant jack ass.... just add alcohol". I have been in some hunting camps with people that should have been wearing that shirt as fair warning to others....
I just checked the latest DSM 5 and did not see the "Turns into a flaming jack ass after their first drink" criteria... but it should be....
I enjoy a drink occasionally. I'm fortunate that it doesn't turn me into a family abusing, drunk driving, maniac. Guessing that there is a middle ground between none and the pen.
I had a pretty good run in my Army days in the 80s and 90s. I was stationed in Germany, and my wife is German, so we even used to have the beer man deliver a rack of beer every Friday. Then we had boys who became teenagers, and you know the drill- first we'd notice the bottles seemed a little emptier, then beers would disappear from the fridge. They even tried the old colored water in the bottle trick. So my wife made a rule no alcohol in the house. I grumbled, of course, but now 10 years later I don't even miss it. I did miss one of my small pleasures in life- an ice cold beer after mowing the lawn, so, I just hired a lawn service .
I started drinking when I was in middle school and quit 6 weeks before I graduated college. There would be no promise in life if I kept at it. White knuckled it those 1st 6 weeks but the first couple years were very difficult. Couldn't have done it without AA. That was 20 years ago now and I haven't thought about drinking in years more than a passing thought. I just accepted I can't and moved on. If I did drink again I imagine my taste would return real fast but I don't plan to find out.
I have no problem with hard work and then drink hard within reason after work and then repeat. But I've just discovered it doesn't agree with me too well on a regular basis.
Started in 8th grade, and got pretty good at it through high school. Quit except for an occasional bender in college. Now, I appreciate a good beer, can tolerate whiskey, like the occasional vodka tonic. But, I always stop at or before two, and I don't get drunk any more. Costs a lot to feel like crap the next day and do stuff I'd rather not read about in the paper.
I developed a real taste for R Crown and ice. I did ok for a couple years on it daily untill it started making me feel like crap and also the next day. Gave some to my rancher bud a few times who was always having an Evan Williams or two at the end of the day after we worked cattle or fences. He finally asked me to just please get him the good stuff-E Williams. I asked him WTH and he told me blended whisky is poison. It gave him and his wife headaches and made them feel bad, as i had began feeling. I started the EW and got used to it. I could taste the sweetness in it. One day after working cattle we went back to the line camp. He had his beer as we were out of EW. I fixed a good big Canadian Mist blended whiskey and ice from his FILaw. 15 min later i dumped the second half in the dirt as i started feeling bad from the top of my head to my toes. Now, i was gifted a bottle of Crown Special Reserve for my BD a month ago and i am afraid to try it. Maybe in a few months I will. I have also gotten to where i prefer wine over the hard stuff i once liked the taste of. I had gotren to where i loved the sweet taste of EW and ice. I feel better just having some Cabernet. Wake up, feel good, go to work, no headache.....
That said, I will put a hurting on a bottle of kahlua - if its there, its hit. And I can probably drain it, straight, in a sitting.
OK, I'll 'fess up, if I had the time and the funds for an unlimited supply of Bailey's Irish Cream, I'm pretty sure even now I could work my way up (down?) to full blown alcoholic.
I still love it all....distilled spirits, wine, beer.....just can't drink it like I used to....puts me under. If the wife and I split a bottle of wine at dinner I've reached my limit. I very seldom drink hard liquor of any kind any more....occasionally a beer or two, usually just a glass of wine with dinner.
I have pulled my martini consumption to Fri/Sat for the most part. If a neighbor drops by for a visit during the week we will likely have a cocktail. During the week I may have a beer or two if I am out sweating. I generally struggle drinking more than one beer anymore though Clark proved me wrong recently.
some folks are 'addictive'. They seem to get hooked on booze or drugs immediately. I can drink heavy, and stop. Coffee, booze and what have you. Just no addiction at all, no matter how hard I 'abuse' the stuff.
Me and my brother had the same drinking habits growing up; drink until we passed out.
The next morning he'd be in the 'fridge looking for leftover beers, me with a hangover put a beer in front of me and it was like vampires and sunlight, couldn't even look at it. I'm sure genetics plays a huge role in alcoholism, it weren't willpower that limited my drinking.
He became a full blown alcoholic, I had a few narrow escapes from DWI's not because I craved the stuff, but because I was drinking it.
He joined AA early and got cleaned up, makes much more retired now than I do working.
Did some drinking in my youth, college, etc. But soon discovered that my body's response to ETOH is to go sit in a corner and watch the world go by. Not much fun in that. Do enjoy a beer, a glass of wine, or a good old fashion G&T every now and then.
I'm sure my idea of moderation and that of the sanctimonious among us are pretty far apart but my Doctor says I'm doing something right so I'll stick with it.
A small amount of alcohol really can help mitigate a headache or other small aches and pains. Folks just tend to think if some is good, more is better. I have a 750 ml bottle of Jagermeister and a shot glass in the freezer kept for such occasions. It was purchased sometime in the spring of 2016 and there is still over half left. I'm one who doesn't like at all the fuzzy feeling alcohol gives you but one cold beer in the summer is good, sometimes. Mostly it's better with a sandwich.
I managed to vomit blood once after drinking a bunch of Jager! Dry since 2004 and know it's best. Sure a bunch of beers I'd try though, and bourbon, and scotch, and vodka, and gin, and rum, and tequila, and and and.... Well, ya get the point. I do cheat every once in a while and have an O'douls Amber or if I can find it, a Guinness Kaliber, just one though, don't want to pass the F'kout. lol
Really, I quit a couple years ago. Amazing how much better I feel. I've on a couple occaisions since had a single beer. No longer enjoy the taste as I did- or thought I did- and feel " a couple points off" the next day. On one beer!
It's strange, but before I got married eighteen years ago, I was a total weekend drunk. Drank e everything I could get my hands on. Then shortly after the big event, everything changed. Suddenly lost my taste for it. I found,d out I didn't even like the stuff anymore. Still keep a bottle in the cupboard and once in a while I 'll mix one up but rarely finish it.
I have pulled my martini consumption to Fri/Sat for the most part. If a neighbor drops by for a visit during the week we will likely have a cocktail. During the week I may have a beer or two if I am out sweating. I generally struggle drinking more than one beer anymore though Clark proved me wrong recently.
In my youth while sporting a beret I'd go to parties and/or bars and get drunk on weekends from time to time. However, that didn't last long and after i became a civilian, i just didn't have the desire anymore.
I'm sure my idea of moderation and that of the sanctimonious among us are pretty far apart but my Doctor says I'm doing something right so I'll stick with it.
Beer, and the evening glass of wine. I stay away from hard liquor, because I become (more) obnoxious, and wake up hung over. Tequila is the devil's own drink - the last time (1972) I drank tequila - the next morning, I apologized to 4 bruised-up friends, and ordered a new top for a '68 Galaxie convertible.
I got buddies that still buy cases of beer per week. Cheap stuff for slamming, they do that with the craft beers too. Don't understand it.
I'll drink if I'm in a good mood, and don't have a headache (lifelong headache sufferer).
Crappy day today, work, truck probs I gotta work on tomorrow bright n early. Think I'll have a Trooper Ale. I'd be up for a killer bloody mary.............but no vodka. Haven't bought any for at least 3 yrs
I'm sure my idea of moderation and that of the sanctimonious among us are pretty far apart but my Doctor says I'm doing something right so I'll stick with it.
Had to go on a medication just under 30 years ago. To get full benefit of it I had to cut way back on the booze. Now if someone offers I will take one or maybe two but no more than that. Don't mind it, just don't care for it like I used to.
I got sick on beer once and the only time i could drink it was when i could not taste it.
I found out i REALLY liked the taste for Beefeater gin.
I always had a fifth around and went through about one a day maybe 2 on weekends.
I quit when the first kid was on the way,figured if i kept it up it would do me in early.
Beer could be drunk only after a few shots of gin and orange juice,then i could not taste it. Never had a liking for wine or any of those fancy drinks they bottle now days.
Ahh! One of my favorites! Hogarth's engravings of Beer St. where everyone is happy (left) and Gin alley where all have fallen into dismay of the evil gin!!! (Right)
Ahh! One of my favorites! Hogarth's engravings of Beer St. where everyone is happy (left) and Gin alley where all have fallen into dismay of the evil gin!!! (Right)
Yep, that was an actual problem. The called it the Gin Craze.
That old bag dropping her baby off the steps..........
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