I have a drinking problem.

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Are you sure that bottle contains more alcohol than can be found in the six pints?

But either way, yes, it sometimes takes a little time for the THIQ to accumulate in the brain to the point of completely taking over all control of one's drinking.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unit_of_alcohol

Yeah 6 pints is about 12 units. 25ml of a spirit is 1 unit. So depending on how big the bottle a standard 750ml bottle = 30 units. You'd need to put away 15 pints of beer for the same alcohol content as 750ml of vodka.

Unless your a big fat guy 15 pints of beer would be a tough ask. A bottle of vodka if your body was used to the alcohol could be put away buy a 5ft 2 skinny woman. You can keep going beyond way beyond 750ml before your body reacts to the calories. 335 to a pint means 15 is over 5000 calories. 100ml of vodka is 220 calories so a 750ml bottle is 1650 calories.

It depends on the brand of vodka 25ml 1 unit is based of 40% and the brand of beer. Budweiser for example is stronger than miller it's 5% miller is 4%.

Yeah, I remember using this logic when I was drinking 12% Almeden Wine when I put myself in the hospital for 3 weeks for wrecking my bike and falling into the creek, breaking my back and putting a large slash on my face when I went through the guard rail. As was supposed to be in bed at home, I instead hobbled down to the liquor store on a walker and plotted to only drink Tyrolia wine, because of its 8% alcohol by volume.

alcoholism has little to do with percentages, and everything to do with how the body/mind/spirit reacts to alcohol.

Like someone said, a drink is a drink that requires another drink regardless of what kind of alcohol it is.

If someone has a problem (and the OP admitted that they did) it does not matter whether it's whisky by the bottle or beer by the case. In the end the results will be the same. Poor health, a life of poor decisions and mornings of regret for acting like a fool the night before. If you go back into a bar after you've been straight for a while you'll see what I mean.

Yes, if someone guzzles a fifth of Vodka a day they are worse off than the guy that nurses 6/8 beers after work. They'll make it to the grave sooner. But the guy drinking the beer won't be far behind him though if he drinks every day.

I'm not saying drinking beer isn't a problem, I'm saying the mint method has a chance of working if you only drink beer because your body is not taking in enough alcohol to build up the same "need" as someone on spirits. They will drink regardless of the taste because their body has a need for it. Some of them will knock the spirit back straight which tastes disgusting anyway.

mints + a little valium might get op off beer. It won't help the guy walking around with a flask in his pocket.

The mints might discourage one's conscious desire for another beer because of the taste conflict, and that might help someone quit for the night and go home. However, the alcohol in the beer is still going to add some THIQ in the brain of someone who has the abnormal body chemistry of an alcoholic and set of a physical craving for more alcohol. Again, the obnoxious taste might help someone fight that physical urge, but a drink is still a drink that is going to physically demand another drink for the real alcoholic even if he or she manages to not take it.

Yes, but I don't think beer can get you to real alcoholic level. Unless your fat, there is only so much of it you can drink before puking. Not so for spirits.

I surely do understand "liquor is quicker", but I have seen many skinny people drink volumes in beer!

Overall, my point is simply that drinking beer only does not keep the alcoholic's physical phenomenon of craving from kicking in.

If someone is trying to make the case that someone couldn't be an alcoholic if they only drank beer they'd be dead wrong.

As a retired drinker (and belive me, I was a professional) , I'm not trying to bust anyones chops here. I'm not one of those holy roller AA types. I didn't get saved or see the light. My life didn't miraculously change overnight.

Trust me, I'm not against alcohol. I like it. It was my friend, and contrary to what so may say, it never let me down. it was always there for me. But I just can't do it anymore. If someone wants my honest to god opinion (and I can speak from personal experience) if you think you have a problem you most likely do. Not only that you're probably worse off than you'll admit in the light of day. That doesn't make you a bad person, it just is.

My advise? Just don't drink. The old "one day at a time" thing has been working for me for 12+ years. I don't (barely) even think about it anymore. And if once in a while I think Damn a beer sounds good!" I tell myself, "Well, maybe someday, but I'll skip today."

Find something else to do (see my previous post in this thread). Read "A Drinking Life" (one of the best books about drinking you'll ever read. Cheers.

I think it was more a case of trying to drink safely.

OK. But trying make a case for someone with alcoholic tendencies to drink safely is like try to explain how to play Russian roulett safely. The last shot is always the one that gets you. : ) Cheers.

Way true.
I remember years ago this woman came up with this program designed to teach alcoholics how to drink in moderation. I don't remember her name. Anyway she herself is an alcoholic. Last I read about her she got drunk and killed two people while driving under the influence. If you are wired towards alcohol abuse the only option is to not pick up that glass.

Yup. I tried the whole "moderation" thing many times. First it was "Well, only only drink on the weekends. Fri. & Sat." So I'd sit there gritting my teeth until Friday rolled around. I'd stick w/that for 2 or 3 weeks and then one Sunday I'd wake up & there'd be some beer left over from the night before. "Well, Sunday is still technically the weekend, right?" I'd drink those 2 or 3 beers and then go get some more. Then a 3 day weekend would come up (where I'd get Friday off from work) & I'd figure, "Hey, an early start to the weekend! Just this one time though...."

Well, sure as s**t a month or two down the road I'm right back into the same routine. Drinking pretty much every day. Understand, I never missed a day or work. I never got arrested. Never beat my GF. I figured I "deserved" to have a few & unwind. I probably did. But I wasn't being the best person I could be when drinking. It wasn't good for my health or my relationships. So for me, I threw in the towel. At least for bit. : ). When I get old & I've got some miles behid me I may have a few when sitting on the porch looking at the sunset. : ) But for now, I'm taking a break.

Good luck man. I know it isn't easy.

There is actually no similarity between alcoholism and so-called "Russian roulette". For an alcoholic, it is the *first* drink that leads to death, not the last.



For people who can do that, yes, certainly. However, leaving the first drink alone is not something the real alcoholic can do. To wit:

"For those who are unable to drink moderately the question is how to stop altogether. We are assuming, of course, that the reader desires to stop. Whether such a person can quit upon a nonspiritual basis depends upon the extent to which he has already lost the power to choose whether he will drink or not. Many of us felt that we had plenty of character. There was a tremendous urge to cease forever. Yet we found it impossible. This is the baffling feature of alcoholism as we know it - this utter inability to leave it alone, no matter how great the necessity or the wish."
("Alcoholics Anonymous", the book, page 34)

What I meant is not picking it up in the first place. I am in recovery- I know the drill.
I don't want to give anyone that's struggling the idea that you can learn to moderate.

Agreed. I've had friends of mine tell me, "Oh can handle this, I'm different". "Sure" I say, "You might be special.....but I doubt it.".

It doesn't make someone a bad person. It just "is" what it "is".