The above links refers to 'Tokyo': a 18.2% abv, £9.99 bottle of beer recently launched by the Scottish brewery, BrewDog. BrewDog says launching such drinks will help to reduce binge drinking:
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Whilst Alcohol Focus Scotland chief Executive Jack Law has warned that high alcohol percentage beer could cause as much damage as drinking more lower percentage beers:
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What do you think? Are drinks like 'Tokyo' adding to or solving a massive problem?
It is vitally important to take into consideration that whilst there are a number of people who can drink sensibly, there are also a large number of people in the UK who have alcohol addictions – an alcohol addiction is not defined by how much you drink or what you drink, but rather how your drinking impacts you life. Thus, one person could drink 3 cans of low percentage lager per night and experience problems attending work, maintaining relationships and develop health problems. Someone who drinks 3 large glasses of whiskey a night is no more of an alcoholic than the person who drinks lager because the abv % is higher in whisky – it all depends on how the alcohol affects your life. Which is why some people drink regularly and can stop and why others can't stop, but drink in physically and psychologically damaging binge cycles.
Complete madness. Alcohol abusers tend to buy the strongest beers/lagers and due to 'tolerance' end up drinking more and more of the high abv liqeur.
ReplyDeleteBrewdog is clearly either displaying supreme ignorance of alcohol misuse or being highly cynical in producing a beer they think is going to net them huge profits. I know where my money is going.
They should be shut down for being totally irresponsible.
It's a small bottle priced at £10 each and can only be purchased off their website.
ReplyDeleteWhat's your average alcoholic going to go for, a crate of strong lager for £12-£13 or is he going to buy a bottle of very sophisticated, very expensive imperial stout? BrewDog beers are strong but you only want one of them due to the sheer intensity and complexity of the flavours. It's drunk more of an after-dinner sipping drink rather than anything else and you can't just chug it down because it's so complex - a bottle takes me nearly an hour to finish! I'd much rather be drinking that than five cans of mass-produced macrogunk.
It wound up the anti-alcohol fake charities as they knew it would and they get to sell their excellent beer in record time.
In fact, I think I'll go and buy some.
Paul, thanks for your comments. Your views of a BrewDog selling their product in record time is very interesting, however I am not sure that your answer is very relevant to what impact it will have on problem binge drinkers, so much as sharing your personal views on your alcoholic beverage preferences?
ReplyDeleteThere are many people in the UK who will share your perspective that you would rather drink smaller amounts of a good quality beer than larger quantities of mass produced lagers, and there certainly isn't anything wrong with that. However, discovering how long it takes a controlled drinker to drink a 'after-dinner sipping' drink is not the point of the question. The question surrounding BrewDogs' 'Tokyo' is whether their claim to have provided a cure to beer binge drinking has any validity. It would be niave to think that any drink considered to be of a higher calibre than cheap booze is not abused, additionally the majority of alcoholics are not so much interested in the complexity of the drink or indeed even considering limiting their intake - infact, the definition of having a problem with alcohol is not being able to control or stop your drinking.
Your points are interesting, although seem to lack undertstanding about addiction. Thank you for blogging and sharing your thoughts.
My point stands. People who are addicted to alcohol won't care what it is as long as they can get their hands on it. That's why the idea of raising alcohol prices (as advocated by Alcohol Concern and their ilk) or outright prohibition is madness.
ReplyDeleteMost alcoholics will choose the most convenient and cheapest option as it will do the job for them far better than this expensive stuff. Why would they choose anything like Tokyo? I'm sure there are a few alcoholics that drink Tokyo but they are, in the main, responsible people who aren't the ones vomiting and causing fights in town centres. Most alcoholics I know prefer horrid lager - it's much easier to keep down. Try it and see.
Binge drinking (also known as getting drunk) is great as an occasional treat as long as you don't put yourself in unnecessary danger. When it starts happening too often though (or it starts replacing food as sustenance in any way) that's when it becomes a problem for others. The only way you'll ever get anyone to change their drinking habits is if they want to. Liberty and responsibility is the most important things here.
I should say that I probably am addicted to some extent but most of the population are addicted to something to some extent. It only becomes a problem when it takes over people's lives and/or they can't function without it.
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ReplyDeletePaul,
ReplyDeleteIt sounds great to sip and enjoy. Unfortunately alcoholics rarely sip and often don't enjoy. I enjoy the odd pint of decent beer but alcoholics would potentially go for this beer as they tend to opt for high strength beers, lagers and spirits. I hadn't realised it was so expensive but I have found that price is rarely a bar to a determined alcoholic.
I'm sure you will carry on enjoying it but it ain't going to do anything to help alcoholics.
Keep posting and sharing!
Keith
I read a few topics. I respect your work and added blog to favorites.
ReplyDeleteKeith:
ReplyDeleteI hate to point this out but you're mixing the two up. Addiction is a problem with alcohol - a big one. But it can be anything in the right context. This is what makes us human. The only way you'll ever truly get anyone to give something up is if they want to. If they tell you that they do and they mean it. Going to a pub like I do I know alcoholics and I get on quite well with the peaceful ones. They really aren't very different from the rest of us at all - they just crave something that the rest of us can keep in check (or don't have that desire there). You can never really cure an addiction - it's there, lurking in the background. You may be able to turn their energies on to something else but it lurks there. It's the same with any addiction. If they can get their preferred one then in extremis they change to something else. Get involved with that. Suddenly this is just as interesting. Hell, they may be balancing two at the same time.
BrewDog Tokyo* is very, very sickly-sweet, strongly alcoholic in taste with a chocolatey flavour. Alcoholics will drink literally anything - they'd drink this if they got their hands on it but it's unlikely that they'd spend much money on this. They'd rather have their beer cans at 10am in the morning. You only see the one side of it. It's the same with drug or any kind of addiction. To a rational mind it doesn't make sense but we aren't often rational beings, I'm afraid.
If alcoholics are drawn to the strength of the drink then they would drink premium spirits, above 100 proof. The fact is they aren't. Cheap lagers, cask wines and various other low cost beverages are the kind of thing that binge drinkers often turn to. Being an alcoholic on 10 pounds per bottle of beer is a sure fire way to run out of money, fast.
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