The Bar Towel

So the wife is pregnant and still wants to be able to drink good tasting beer as well. I know Brewdog used to make a virtually non-alcoholic brew called "Nanny State", however I can't find it anywhere. Does anyone have any suggestions on where to find it or anything else that might taste pretty decent?

Of the non-alcoholic brews, I find most taste about as appetizing as earwax. I do like the President's Choice Red Ale and Becks, but pass on the Labatts or Molson offerings.

It's only nine months.

Tiger Malt and Isomerized Hop Extract

Honestly, she'd be better off drinking a tiny glass of real beer, or taste and spit.


Mill Race Mild is only 3.6%.

I did a Ratebeer customizable Top 50 for beers with >100 ratings (eg. available distribution), and 0.1%-3.0% abv and less than 5 have a score over 3.0

JerCraigs wrote:Honestly, she'd be better off drinking a tiny glass of real beer, or taste and spit.


Mill Race Mild is only 3.6%.

I did a Ratebeer customizable Top 50 for beers with >100 ratings (eg. available distribution), and 0.1%-3.0% abv and less than 5 have a score over 3.0

I agree. I don't want to condone drinking during pregnancy, but a small amount probably won't harm the baby.

Last year, my wife would sometimes take 5 or 6 oz of my beer. Having said that she did like (and still does) Mill Race Mild. Galt Knife is another great beer at only just over 4% and the two of you could split it. My wife doesn't drink a lot anyway, but while she was pregnant she would have a few (2 or 3) "half" beers (5 or 6 oz) a week.

If it causes anxiety for her though, (and that's understandable) it might not be worth it.

One final note - my wife also ate sushi while pregnant, even though that's a "no no". She just decided to eat it in moderation and only ate high quality fish. She figured that women in Japan don't stop eating sushi while pregnant*...

*My wife isn't the kind of person to say "Pft" to medical recommendations, but in these situations she made judgement calls that made sense to her and drank and ate "restricted" foods and drinks only in moderation. In other parts of the world, women don't get the same kind of prohibitions that women in North America seem to get. There's a lot of talk about managing risk, but on this continent, there's all kinds of arguments about what "risk" is... *

phirleh wrote: I do like the President's Choice Red Brew and Beck's

Agreed. I drank these while taking antibiotics and found them to be surprisingly tolerable. The Red Brew has a mild bready-caramel flavour, smooth palate, and decent carbonated bite with a crisp finish and fleeting aftertaste. The Beck's has a discernable pilsner character with bready/yeasty/hay-like notes and some actual hop bitterness. If I were to rate either as a "normal" beer, they'd be in the D-F range, but considering the lack of alcohol they're both pretty good.

Could also eat your beer! There's beer soup, Carbonnade Flamande, and homemade bread leavened with beer bottle lees.

Actually indulging in expensive, healthy multigrain breads might be the best substitute.

JeffPorter wrote:
*My wife isn't the kind of person to say "Pft" to medical recommendations, but in these situations she made judgement calls that made sense to her and drank and ate "restricted" foods and drinks only in moderation. In other parts of the world, women don't get the same kind of prohibitions that women in North America seem to get. There's a lot of talk about managing risk, but on this continent, there's all kinds of arguments about what "risk" is... *

FYI, www.motherisk.org is a great site.

I don't believe food-poisoning does direct harm to the fetus. The major risk is dehydration from the sickness.

Here's what they say about sushi:
http://www.motherisk.org/prof/updatesDe ... ent_id=925

Unfortunately they don't have much information on alcohol... but a Guinness a day seems to result in soccer hooligans. ;D

Derek wrote: Unfortunately they don't have much information on alcohol... but a Guinness a day seems to result in soccer hooligans. ;D

So many jokes, so little time

I find it astounding that so many people are advocating drinking alcohol during pregnancy.

Ale's What Cures Ya wrote:I find it astounding that so many people are advocating drinking alcohol during pregnancy.

Well, there's a difference between advocating for it and being sensible about it. There are very few studies that show negative effects of very small quantities of alcohol and (at least to my knowledge) no substantial reviews of research. There's just simply not a lot of evidence.

Having said that - I'm inclined to agree with you that: it's only nine months.

JeffPorter wrote: Well, there's a difference between advocating for it and being sensible about it. There are very few studies that show negative effects of very small quantities of alcohol and (at least to my knowledge) no substantial reviews of research. There's just simply not a lot of evidence.

Having said that - I'm inclined to agree with you that: it's only nine months.

Well according to the CDC the only safe amount is none.

http://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/faqs.htm#drinkPreg

I love that we live in a society that seems to think nine months is too long of a time to sacrifice certain indulgences for the cause of good health in newborns. Hell, those nine months are the easy part of parenting. The whole parenting thing is nothing but sacrifice.

Ale's What Cures Ya wrote:I find it astounding that so many people are advocating drinking alcohol during pregnancy.

Agreed.

There's some real divergence of opinion here, which I think is ok.

I think that sacrifice is important and I think a lot of people do sacrifice, but I don't think that heavy drinking (which is what cause FAS) should be equated to have 5 oz of beer a few times a week. Agencies like the WHO and CDC are playing it safe, and rightfully so...since there's no conclusive evidence about amount IS safe. It's the only thing they CAN say.

Also (at the risk of opening a huge can of worms) there's a huge percentage of women in Canada (about 80) who, while they may abstain from substances during pregnancy, stop breastfeeding after six months - and health risks of not breastfeeding are quite conclusive. Another example of sacrifice I suppose.

Also elective C-Section is big in North America too (and almost non-existant in Europe), something that the WHO says carries undeniable health risks.

Given the choice between my wife drinking 10-15 oz of average abv beer in a week during pregnancy or bottle feeding with an elective c-section, I know which one I'd pick. And I think I know which one is more of a sacrifice.

My wife was under great care. She had the birth totally au natural, no drugs, and plans to breast feed well into the second year at least. She didn't give up when there were problems with latching and everyone was suggesting she just bottle feed.

This isn't in judgement of people who chose c-sections or epidurals, or chose not to breast feed. But there's lots of different ways to sacrifice, I suppose.