As of next Saturday I will stop drinking alcohol for a month. My liver and myself have reached this compromise after a lot of debate. This is the second year I’m doing that. I remember from last year that one day I had to really force myself not to drink the yeast starter 
Anyone else doing something similar? I wouldn’t mind if you lied.
Getting married soon, and hopefully babies will happen not too long after. I have already assured my lady that I will not be going sober in solidarity. Honestly, I am drunk only a handful of times a year, but I drink 1-3 pints a day after work and with dinner.
Good luck in your endeavor.
I stop for a week or two every few months. Often I am just really busy, and don’t have a beer for a few days, and then decide to stretch it out for a while. The first beer I have after the break is oh so good too.
I usually go on a meditation retreat once a year for 7-10 days, taking precepts which include no intoxicants. I drink often (5 or 6 days/week) but usually not a lot at once (1-3 beers or glasses of mead, or a cocktail before dinner). I would say 3 or 4 times a year I take a few days off then go real light for a few more days to help lose a few pounds.
I’m planning to cut back a bit in a about a week. More so to lose some weight, not so much for the sake of my liver. The holidays always let some bad habits creep back in (like the goodie table and the beer you have because you don’t have to go to work for another week).
Paul
Same here: lose some weight, give the liver a rest. I drink one beer per day, sometimes a bit more, occasionally quite a bit more, but never to the point of being really drunk. But, yes, every day.
I am off drinking until April. I miss being in awesome shape, now I’m just shaped. :o I’ve always worked out, so I’m just stepping that up a notch. Maybe learning how to make fresh mozzarella wasn’t such a good idea. 
If it was causing me health or marriage problems I would stop, but I like to think this is avoided with moderation. Typically 1-3 glasses per day, although in the winter on a weekend with nothing to do this figure has gone up.
I tried the only on weekend things to lose a couple pounds at one point and I realized that I just replaced the calories with other things that I didn’t enjoy as much so I didn’t lose weight. I just choose to cut out cake, candy, and other sweet drinks instead of beer. It’s all empty calories and I work out fairly hard daily so I am usually trying to increase my total caloric intake.
While I am not a doctor, and don’t begin to imagine the same is true for everyone, I don’t think moderate drinking really puts much of a strain on your liver. My liver levels are always nominal and I’m a 1-3 pints a day guy pretty much always.
I’ll take a break when I do not have anything enjoyable to drink though.
I usually give up alcohol for Lent, so for 6 weeks.
My typical intake is 4 nights a week I’ll have 2 beers, occasionally a third. On my Friday I’ll bump that to 3-6. Usually 6 = an irresistible sleeping pill.
My doctor, whom I trust very much, says that two beers a day is okay. So with only a few exceptions, two beers a day for me is the routine.
I have stopped, usually when I’m somewhere on a trip where there isn’t any good beer, but if it isn’t doing me any harm, Why stop? 8)
I have one beer a day maybe 4-5 days a week, after everything is done in the house and everyone is in bed. My wife can’t drink, and I’ve just got too much going on to have more than that on a typical night. I really have no desire to feel drunk, or even buzzed, when I’m enjoying a drink by myself. At that point, enjoying a good beer provides all the relaxation I need even without the alcohol.
Don’t get me wrong - I’m not a teetotaler. I have no problem throwing a few back with my buddies. But my buddies and I all have small kids, so those opportunities are few and far between.
Needless to say, I never feel the need to take a break from drinking. If anything, I have to tell myself that I need to drink more often, since the beer piles up faster than I consume it.
I usually drink 3 or 4 days a week, 2-3 beers. Sometimes less. With the exception of Friday night, which is often more like 3-6 beers. Friday night is my reward for a long work week with a long commute. Works for me.
So I recently to a week off and that was good enough for me. I think my wife would have really liked me to take a longer break but its all good. Its to tempting here in Colorado, especially when New Belgium has cheap growler days in the middle of the week. Usually though I am good after drinking 2-3 during the week and 3 to whenever I feel like being done on Friday or Saturday. Don’t drink on Sundays because that is our family day.
I guess the real reason why I’m doing this is to prove that I’m able to
I did this once, for the same reason. The first week was tough, the next three were easy.
Right now I am working on no alcohol for 3 days a week (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday). Wednesday is cheap growler night at the local brew pub, and Friday/Saturday/Sunday is the weekend. I might try another month without alcohol again, but that will have to wait until after the Super Bowl.
I am a one a day guy, not counting anything given to me, or that I brewed, or if we have company.
I like that standard a lot Jim, I may start to follow it as well, lol
+1. It has a certain “the ice cream on the lid has no calories” quality. Thanks Jim! 8)
I didn’t used to drink much during the week before I opened Yellowhammer… and while I have noble intentions of temperance Monday through Thursday it is challenging to keep that policy. First off, there’s sooo muuuch beeeer. I literally have to sample beer every day, literally wether I like it or not. Meaning, sometimes I am not really ready for a beer and I have to sample.
Then, there are about 15 or so taps on the wall that are just there and after a long, 12 hour day, it is very tempting to pull them - especially during the hot Alabama summer.
But the worst part is bottling days, because we will always have a beer that get’s miscapped floating down the bottling line, and we will get dozens of them during the day. They are perfectly fine beers, literally ice cold, and destined to be trashed - and it is hard not to pull one of those off the line near the end of the day and knock it back.
So there are a hand full of days that I abstain during the year, but usually I feel I’m doing pretty good if I don’t drink a beer until after 4…