[Bring your own booze] – Alcohol-free alternatives that will go down a storm at house parties
BYOB! – the alcohol-free alternatives – beer edition.
When the mates invite you round for a house party and then say, “oh yeah, and bring your own booze”, one of the following reactions usually enters your mind. Which person are you?
“I am skint! I’ll bring whatever I have in the house and rescue some stray bottles during the party.” or “I’ll say I forgot.”
“I’ll take the usual.”
“This is exactly why I bought this expensive [insert exotic spirit] from [insert exotic country].”
“Time to break out the special stuff.”
“Who brought the alcohol-free sh***?”
With BYOB, it is inevitable that there will be some sharing involved. This can fill you with excitement or pure dread. You can feel like you are being judged for what you bring. That what you are drinking is somehow tied to your identity. So, when you are going sober, for whatever reason, it feels like the judgement can be twice as heavy.
“Who bought the alcohol-free s****?” has been a reaction I have heard a few times in the past. Although, this is normally blurted out by the guy who is sponging off the generosity of his friends. It is a statement that still invites a barrage of questions and a number of confused looks. Once everyone is over the initial shock, people tend to want to investigate this strange phenomenon. But, only to satisfy their initial aversions ending with “it’s just a watered-down version of the proper one” or “waste of money, just drink the real thing”.
That is definitely how it used to go – but times are changing.
I am a beer drinker and was initially a sceptic of AF beers. Yet, today I can officially say that I am a fan – which is helpful when you are setting up an AF bar.
When we first started YADA, there were very few alcohol-free alternatives and even fewer beer options. But, this has dramatically changed. Over the last few years, AF beer has evolved rapidly and there are many great tasting beers out there – although there are still some naff ones. I am thoroughly enjoying the tasting phase of YADA.
Whether you like fruity, hoppy, wheaty, malty, heavy or light, there is an AF beer out there for you and your BYOB house party.
From Big Drop Brewing Co. (one of the first UK dedicated alcohol-free breweries) to larger companies like Brewdog taking AF beer seriously the future looks bright. And I anticipate that AF options for BYOB will become more popular in years to come.
My current favourites so far are Lucky Saint and the Brooklyn Special Effects!
Happy tasting!
This blog was draughted by Rhondell Stabana
