No alcohol free beer in pubs

My Dad recently suffered from liver cirrhosis and as a result my family has switched to Bavaria and Becks alcohol free beer (along with soft drinks obviously) and I have to say they are actually really nice! Bavaria is in tescos at the moment for 6 cans of Bavaria for about 2 quid! They are a great alternative to alcoholic beer and its so much healthier (though I tend to stick to water and milk as much as possible). But I wouldn't recommend Non-al Cobra, its pretty rank.

Large selection of alcohol free beer in the UK at www.beersofeurope.co.uk

It should be made law that pubs have to sell diluted cordial drinks for a £1-00 a pint and no more, I bet there is at least 500 deaths yearly attributed to drink driving,

Someone driving who has had two or three pints of beer, should not be penalized for then later drinking non alcholic drinks instead of alcholic ones.

£2.50 for a non al Becks (275ml) and £1.80 (330ml) for a non al Holston Pils in the pubs round here. For less than a pint of becks thats 5 quid!!! If the Government want to help with the binge drinking why arent they making it cheaper to buy? My mate and I went into the pub and both had a couple of bottles and put then on a credit tab, when I asked the owner how much they were my mate said HOW MUCH? and went straight for a pint of real ale for his next drink.....

We have such a big drinking culture that it is touch to change. Alcohol free beers are catching on now though, especially as more come on to the market. Some bottles are really hard to tell from normal bottles too, so that is slowly helping to crack the image problem.

See http://www.alcoholfreereview.com for details on what is available.

Our experience is if it is promoted then people feel comfortable asking for it and, if the bar staff don't take the piss - which too often they still do, then it sells. It's simple. Of course it does demand on the type of pub and the clientele. There are some venues where it will be harder than others. But we receive emails daily asking why they can't get the beers we sell for home consumption in pubs. The demand is out there, it is growing and it will continue to grow as regulations (labelling, drink-driving etc) are toughened.

It was advertised as much as anything else was. Maybe a couple of posters. I don't remember in that much detail, it was a few years ago now. But it was on the top shelf in the fridge, I remember that much. Perfectly visible. People just didn't want it.

(also, sorry about the double post, that was an accident)

I worked in a pub for a few years, and only once was asked whether we had any alcohol free beer. The answer was no. If that gentleman had been in a few months prior the answer would have been different, but due to a complete lack of demand, almost a full crate had gone to waste; it had passed its best before date and had to be binned. From then, my boss decided not to waste money on something almost no one wanted. Instead we had a wide range of soft drinks, and any non-drinkers were going to have to make do.

Clairey - Was the alcohol-free beer promoted in the pub at all? Did anyone know it was there? Or did you just wait for someone to ask? This is an article I wrote recently for The Publican that puts forward our point of view as a supplier of alcohol-free beer - http://www.thepublican.com/story.asp?sectioncode=6&storycode=66015&c=1

I worked in a pub for a few years, and only once was asked whether we had any alcohol free beer. The answer was no. If that gentleman had been in a few months prior the answer would have been different, but due to a complete lack of demand, almost a full crate had gone to waste; it had passed its best before date and had to be binned. From then, my boss decided not to waste money on something almost no one wanted. Instead we had a wide range of soft drinks, and any non-drinkers were going to have to make do.

I went into one b&b in skegness and they had a drivers shelf that was full of diffrent alcohol free beers,lagers and soft drinks would it hurt the goverment to make it legal that there should be the option of alcohol free in every establishment if they can ban smoking inside then I dont see why they cant do this

Interesting viewpoint Terry. It raises many questions and points. Firstly: many would view non-alcoholic beer as just another soft drink, albeit a less sickly sweet one. Why restrict ourselves to coke and not alcohol-free beer? Secondly: coke contains the stimulant caffeine, best avoided by people with conditions similar to those described here e.g. pregnancy and heart conditions. Coke for some if not many non-drinkers is simply not an alternative. Thirdly: How exactly does broadening your customer base by providing drinks outwardly identical to your existing alcoholic range in everything other than the percentage, bring down your reputation as a pub? Fourthly: if it's a matter of taste, which I suspect it might be, are then Fanta, blue WKD, Sirrus, or sweetener-laced lemonade acceptable alternatives to your cherished beer in pubs? If not, should all drinks then be alcoholic beer? If so, should pregnant women and people with liver disorders be excluded from or forced to sit without a drink in pubs?