After I quit drinking, it took me a couple of years before I would try a non-alcoholic beer. My AA friends were adamant about not drinking non-alcoholic beers. The “slippery slope” argument applied. Even a sip of N-A beer would lead me back to Bud.

I was surprised how good my first O’Doul’s tasted. Not quite beer, but damn close. I allowed myself only one a day. Today, I will drink two or three. I’ll drink one when I get home in the evening and maybe one with dinner. If I’m out at a ballgame or after a round of golf, I might have one or two. For whatever reason, I am absolutely capable of limiting myself and have never exceeded what I said I would drink.

In our state, N-A beer is actually considered alcoholic. It can’t be bought before 10:00 a.m. on a Sunday. It is illegal to drink it in your car and it is illegal to have an open bottle of it in the passenger area of a vehicle. You can’t sell it to minors. So, my question is, if it’s non-alcoholic and so safe, why is the state putting the “alcoholic” label on it. There is more alcohol in a tablespoon of Nyquil or a mouthful of Scope than there is in a case of O’Doul’s.

I did some research on the web and discovered that most Muslim’s believe it is OK to drink N-A beer. Apparently they have figured out that the 0.5% alcohol content of most N-A beer is sufficiently lower than what the Qu’ran told them was safe for them to drink. So, Muslims think it’s acceptable to drink, but our own government doesn’t. That’s a change.

I’ve got to say that no matter how good an O’Doul’s is, I prefer an ice cold can of Busch Non-Alcoholic. It is crisp, clean, and light, and tastes as close to a Bud as you can get. It doesn’t get skunky (like O’Doul’s do after a few months in the fridge) and it’s the cheapest fake beer on the shelf.