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PaperclipPerfector  1d ago (text post)   1136 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for April 19, 2026

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

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Do you drink alcohol? If so, how much and how often, and what's your age?

I'm mid 40s and I used to be a social drinker, but gave it up 2.5 years ago because the hangovers, even after 2 drinks, became atrocious. Even if I ate something, spread out the drinks, hydrated, etc. Of my greater social group, though, I'm the only one to give it up. I keep hearing about people drinking less, but no one I know among my age group has slowed down or given it up.

Late 30s - from time to time.

I’ll drink socially an every few weekends or so. From time to time I’ll buy a six pack and work on it 1-2 a night spread over the week. This is usually while unwinding after the kids go down or doing some late night work at the computer.

I’ll also go stretches without drinking at all, like Lent.

Mid-40s now, drank hard for a decade, then what civilians would call "hard" for another. These days I drink relatively little, maybe a case a week during the summer and fall, plus a few binges in there for vacation, fishing, deer camp etc. Substituted weed for the daily use, pain management etc. The friends I've kept have slowed down. Some of the ones that drifted off are still hitting it hard.

Every year at guy's weekend the drinks get gayer and gayer. Zero sugar fruity spritzers and vodka fizzes rather than SoCo and PBR. Every New Years involves finding out that the kids these days can't hang with an old cunt who barely drinks anymore. I'm stuck between that and the real motherfuckers who don't consider beer to be drinking and still take road fifths.

I am from Eastern Europe.

Used to drink a lot when I was young (basically no sober weekends and at least one or two drunk days for several years), but always socially. That was just the kinds of friends I made at school. I grew sick of the hedonism-maxxing culture, reduced drinking to the point of practically quitting in my 20s, and I switched to social circles built on studying/work and sports. I still enjoy beer and scotch, but almost never get around to drinking any due to persistent social isolation (and I still almost never drink alone, maybe one glass per year). It's nice when I'm at a beer garden in summer, after a long walk, with friends, but I have no issues with not drinking. Age 36 now.

For me it's been a function of industry/lifestage.

5 years ago when I was working in the Australian gambling industry there'd be atleast one heavy session a week, plus I was dating at the same time and a lot of incidental on that front. Now I'm self-employed and married with children I'd essentially only drink on special occasions.

I've never really had a 'casual solo drinking' interest though. Price of alcohol and health effects just always made it seem not worthwhile.

Australian gambling industry

That'd be an interesting effortpost if ever you have the time. What's the main gambling people do over there?

By handle or social visibility?

60% Pokies (Slot machines in bars), 15% casino, 15% racing and 10% sports generally the split. Plus the lottery/scratchies but they get administered differently.

Practically never, ~30. The few times I did I felt only mildly groggy, so I figured, why bother?

Yes, slightly over 50, once or twice a month. I don't get hangovers, at least not since very young and stupid student years, but I learned if I drunk too much, I felt very bad (nausea, stomach aches, etc.) so I stopped doing that and now limit myself to 1-2 drinks, or whenever I start feeling it's not good for me anymore. In my 40s, I was drinking about weekly, usually 1-2 drinks socially, but now even less for various reasons. Sometimes it could be several months without a single drink, sometimes could be a couple of times a week but on average it's about 1-2 times a months, and usually 1-2 drinks. I do enjoy drinking socially, usually with family or friends, so I am unlikely to give it up completely, but probably would keep this pace at least until some turn in my health would change it.

Early 40's. My drinking is social/event and sporadic. The thing is, I like drinking, but only to get drunk. I rather dislike the feeling of having 1-3 drinks. I like the taste, but I feel like I get little of the upside effects while still feeling enervated for the rest of the night. My idea amount would be a pint of whiskey over the course of an evening, culminating in a tall glass of water and then passing out.

The problem is that doing this basically ruins me for the next day. It's just not worth it any more.

The big exception is concerts of a certain exuberant, energetic variety. I get drunk enough to lose the perfect amount of inhibitions, but a few hours later I feel fantastic. I have absolutely no scientific basis for the claim whatsoever, but I feel like I sweat the alcohol out, or maybe it's just getting buried and swept away by other happy brain chemicals.

Most of my friends have quit or severely cut back, some for the post-40 hangover reasons, some for more serious medical concerns that justified cutting all things bad for them, and some in preference for legal THC.

44, and basically never thanks to medication interactions (serious drowsiness) — not that I was much of a drinker before I went on the meds. (Though, now that I do the math, that was like 20 years ago.)

I do use some in cooking, though (deglazing with wine, beer batter, beer in chili, sake in teriyaki marinade, etc…).

40s and I drink pretty irregularly.

I have a bad relationship with alcohol. During my divorce ten years ago I essentially disintegrated as a person and was often away on business, so slipped into what would be 'functional' alcoholism for anyone else. Real Anthony Bourdain hours, solemnly staring into glasses of chemical oblivion at hotel bars. I was drinking generally about a 750 ml bottle of liquor per day, and often a bit more. It was better than being sober. And to be honest I'm not sure how I'd have survived that period otherwise. It is, as they say, a solution before it's a problem.

But after 2-3 months of that I started to lose my mind. It would be easiest to describe the experience as very early, very rapid-onset dementia. I'd miss every exit; forget to turn off my engine when pumping gas; as often as not couldn't remember why I'd walked into the room; couldn't read a paragraph of text and hold the ideas together in my head long enough to make sense of them. Trying to research what was happening to me while in that condition was a terrible experience. I can only think about it now without residual terror because it worked out okay.

Long story short I managed to find a doctor online who very quickly put his finger on the problem. I was astonished to learn about 'wet brain'. My whole life I'd been warned about how alcohol can damage the liver; never once had anyone mentioned that it can also damage the brain. "Stop drinking alcohol and eat lots of red meat," he told me.

By the grace of God I did, and it was no problem at all. I can be compulsive about other things but for whatever reason alcohol does not hook me beyond the next sunrise. I simply stopped drinking for several months, and ate lots of red meat, and recovered fully within about a year. Since then I've learned that I'm extremely lucky; that almost no one who drinks that much for that long is capable of maintaining control.

These days I don't drink often. Partly this is because alcohol is the only drug I've ever regretted doing, and mainly in terms of my behavior and the things I say when drunk. I've learned to associate it with regret. Also because I've learned that while I can have one drink without any problem, it does make me want a second. Turning down the second isn't hard for me, but if I have two I'll have ten.

Wine with dinner sometimes, if I know I'll be metering it out across a multi-hour conversation with lots of food in-between. A cold beer while grilling, of course, though I'm careful to not buy more than that at a time, so as to avoid compulsive additional beers. (By the way, a glass of ice-cold whole milk is much, much closer to capturing the satisfaction of a cold beer than you might believe, and is also better in its own ways.)

I will have a drink or two with friends sometimes, but always with an eye to whether the situation looks liable to spiral into more.

But overall I'm just happier without any. I don't like the way it makes my body feel, and while it granted immense euphoria in my youth I don't get any of that any more. It just makes me dumb and vulgar and pushes me deep into 'drunken racist uncle' territory at family gatherings. Better to say no thanks. Finally, in recent years it's become apparent to me that if I have a drink one day my general anxiety level tends to be higher for several days after.

At this point I'd be happy to cut myself off entirely, except that can be awkward socially and also it would just seem... sad, to me, to have to go that far, and miss out on what can be a lovely dimension of life. I love good wine, and good scotch, and sometimes a ridiculous neon blue cocktail on the beach.

And I can have those and get along. Most of the time.

Yes. I'm in my mid-40s now. I suppose I'd be called a social binge drinker, and I do have a fairly high tolerance, but I have cut down on how drunk I am willing to get in the last couple of years due to hangovers getting worse.

I basically never drink at home. If I'm staying home on a given night, I won't drink at all. I try not to drink more than 3 nights a week or so on average, with some variation depending on what events are going on. Usually I go out with friends or to some sort of event, and I may drink like 4 to 8 drinks, depending on how big and strong they are. That's mostly mid-strength beers, since I like the taste and find it easier to regulate myself with beer. I may drink wine, mixed drinks, or shots occasionally, depending on the type of place and who I'm with, but I try to limit that to 1, maybe 2 a night, since they go down too easy and tend to lead to getting excessively drunk. Most of my friends drink around the same amount most of the time.

One weird quirk that seems to have started hitting me more in the last few years is that I don't like to drink too little, because I find that drinking only 1 or 2 drinks tends to disrupt my sleep patterns, making me wake up too early and have trouble getting back to sleep. Drinking a moderate amount, per above, usually results in a pretty good night's sleep and minimal hangover effect the next day. If I drink too much, then I still sleep decently well, but get a much worse hangover that might take the better part of the next day to get over.

Another quirk - I started making this electrolyte drink in a big pitcher at home, and I'll try to drink a glass full anytime I get home after a session of drinking. I think it helps cut down on the hangovers, which I have come to think electrolyte deficiency probably plays a big part in. Notably, if this is true, it also means that the common advice of drinking lots of water when drinking alcohol may work against you, since it only contributes more to draining your electrolytes. It's the same mechanism by which you can die from drinking too much water.

Yes, usually two-three drinks per day. This is a large reduction over previous consumption.

I'll be 40 this year. I drink usually once a week; my friends have a weekly hangout on tuesday evenings at a neighborhood bar, a tradition we've kept up for almost 15 years. I drink usually between 2 and 4 pints, over three to four hours. If I go for 4 pints I feel it quite a bit at the end, 2 pints not really.

My alcohol tolerance has declined quite a bit over time. I used to drink over 5 pints without much of an effect but those days are over. In social gatherings, I'll have a couple of beers, or a couple of glasses of wine, but in general I don't drink on my own or with my wife, unless it's a pairing I really appreciate a lot (for instance, a nice bowl of restaurant ramen requires a beer).

I used to drink quite frequently and heavily in my 20s. Nowadays I have slowly tapered off, drink 1-3 times a month for celebrations, ideally with friends out of the house. My hangovers tend to be fine if I do that, if I'm drinking alone or just with the lady at the house then my hangovers are terrible.

I'm 41. I drink, but something like two drinks a year, which my exasperated doctor once told me counts as "not drinking" for medical purposes. I don't have a moral precept against it or anything, I just don't enjoy drinking very much so I don't do it. Just as well because, like @ToaKraka I don't need an alcohol addiction to go with my rather severe sugar addiction.

Yes, mid 30s, and I go out to the bar between 1-3 nights a week (usually closer to three, but it depends). How much? Too much, especially for my wallet (I, uh, spent over $6K on bar tabs last year...), and a doctor would likely be horrified if I made an actual count and told them, but hey, who needs to do that? This is actually an improvement, and I rarely drink alone these days, just keep some light beer in the fridge to finish off the night if I get bored and go home early. I've been working on the same 15 pack of Natty Light in my fridge for the last month.

I was a pretty ridiculous drink at home alcoholic in my early-mid 20s, such that I’m probably lucky to have survived and definitely lucky not to have wound up in jail. I didn’t do much day drinking but did peak at about a fifth of vodka a night worth of whatever cheap beer (Steel Reserve and Natty Ice were my go-tos.) I was going for that night. I don’t recommend it, even if it was an effective weight loss plan. There’s nothing attractive about self-pity, getting blacked out every night is an extremely inefficient method of working through your problems at best, and that therapist who fired me and wanted me to go to inpatient rehab had a point (even if I don’t think that rehab was the correct answer).

From there I spent the better part of a decade being an overpaid (SEC college town) service industry townie who hung out with other townie service industry/musician types. It was a much more fun way to spend one’s time, if not exactly more productive. I had a life pretty much perfectly catered to it: Work 11AM-10/11PM, hit the bars until they close at 2, rinse and repeat and before you know it you’re over 30 wondering where the time went. Covid, rent increases, and the delivery company I worked for dying ended that fun, though I tossed in a few years of playing the alcoholic bartender game for good measure before concluding that bartending was a dead end. There’s a difference between being passionate and knowledgeable about drinking and passionate and knowledgeable about drinks, and I was a mediocre bartender at best who’d aged out of liking most craft beer.

The last few years and especially the last year have put a major crimp in my barfly lifestyle, namely due to most of my friends from that era either moving out of town or aging out of that lifestyle, along with now working a job that requires showing up early in the morning and actually being productive. Losing that employee discount along with the old crew that was good for at least one or two drinks not rang in per night also hurts. With that, my favorite bar has transformed itself from a hangout for disgruntled adjuncts/professors and dilettantes into a nursing home that occasionally hosts children (aka. undergraduates), or maybe happy hour was always like that and I just never knew (Spoiler: It was always like that, which is why I hated working happy hour, though it remains my contention that our night shift is a shadow of what it used to be). I get bored and want to go to the bar and talk (I envy people who enjoy watching TV.), but then I show up to happy hour and am more often than not the only person aside from the bartender under the age of 55. I haven’t hit every happy hour in town but this seems to be the case in every one I’ve tried so far. Lately, I’ve found myself going out less and/or having two rounds and going home more often because the expected value of entertainment/conversation just isn’t there like it used to be.

Mid fifties, drink almost every day, two probably. Meaning three. Gins and tonic this time of year. Wine whenever we get a bottle. Beers but beer goes to the gut for me. My wife suggests I limit my consumption more but when I did a month sober last fall her refrain was Just have a drink! as she found my sober self at dinner rather boring. I usually do a day or two dry each week just to spell the liver.

Known to exceed these limits on occasion as I run with degenerates.

I drank somewhere between 5 and 25 drinks a week for approximately my entire late teens and twenties. This is pretty normal in Britain, although most people usually moderate as they get older. I'd mostly stopped what I'd consider binge drinking (5+ drinks in a sitting) by 25 (with the exception of perhaps a wedding or Christmas) but would still drink, just with more moderation. I was probably down to 5-10 drinks a week. That works out to be considerably more than recommended.

I did full sobriety for approximately 6 months as I had to get some other issues in my life under control and realised my drinking was a barrier to this. It was much easier than I expected, I was extremely productive, but still felt like I missed out on enjoying some things as much as I might have after the perfect 2 drink mark (mostly nice dinners). I gradually returned to drinking 1 or 2 drinks a week, sometimes not drinking for a couple of weeks, sometimes having a couple of drinks a day on a holiday. I feel extremely happy with this current level of drinking and have maintained it for about 2 years, and although I haven't been properly drunk in a very long time, I intend to break this boring streak at an upcoming bachelor party.

I love alcohol. I'm going to be 30 pretty soon. I have unique drinking habits so if anyone who knows me is reading there's no mistaking who I am.

Do you drink alcohol?

That's complicated. I can't keep it in the house. If I have beers in the fridge I'll simply binge them right up until the time at which I need to stop so I can sober up before bed. I once bought a 24-pack at Costco because I was shocked at the per-unit price, and I drank 5 that night, alone, browsing the internet. Then 3 the next night, and so on. I'm like this with everything; I'll do the same with Coke Zero. So, we only have water and coffee in the house most of the time.... I haven't had an alcoholic beverage in several weeks at this point, by chance.

If it's served, I'll gladly accept. My friends all drink too slowly, so I'll happily outpace them. Loosen up guys!

In restaurants I'll order two to start (beers, margaritas, whichever). This is actually a huge boost in convenience because I don't have to wait on the waiter to offer another one, and I'll have longer to sober up to drive home (because I finished #2 twenty minutes ahead of the counterfactual).

Yes. I'm early 30s and I drink socially so at least 1 to 2 drinks every week and more than that if I'm on a work trip and going to dinner with clients.

The plummeting alcohol consumption is pretty sad to be honest because alcohol in an important social lubricant which allows for easier social bonding between people. The falling alcohol consumption is a result of far less social interaction, especially among young people. Instead of drinking alcohol around friends in a group, more and more people use THC and turn into vegetables in front of screens.

I see no downside whatsoever and quite a bit of upside through the moderate consumption of alcohol in person around other people.

Wow you guys are some real (semi) teetotallers. I never drank every day but I’ve probably had two drinks every Friday/Thursday (pre/post covid happy hour) since I moved to England, a glass of wine half the time on the average weekday when I eat at home, and weekends vary, but more when we go out for dinner.

I love alcohol but have probably cut down by 50% over the last 5 years. Not necessarily intentionally but it’s empty calories. I didn’t drink in high school or at college except at parties or at dinner with my family. Growing up my parents had exactly one glass of wine each with dinner every single day (and still do with the exception of Tuesdays, which they’ve recently declared sober), yet I never saw either of them drunk except once in my early twenties at a family wedding.

While in Scotland? I'd frequent the pub about twice a week, and drink more than I know is good for me. On average, two pints of beer and a few double-strength shots of some kind of spirit. This was for about a period of 4-6 months, outside of which I barely drank more than once a month.

I realized this wasn't great for me, and cut down significantly. It was also out of character, before, and after, I'm mostly a social drinker. I'd drink hard maybe twice or thrice a month, but only with company. I usually make it a point not to keep liquor at home or drink by myself, while I'm usually solid about not giving in to temptation, it's not easy during a bout of depression. The fact that I was self-administering alcohol use screening tests and squinting at the results was enough to make me desist.

Then again, it's Scotland. I'd have my visa revoked if I didn't engage in the cultural highlight.

Mid 30s, and I drink rarely because even one pint makes me woozy for a few hours and that's not fun unless I'm with friends. Drank 3 pints one evening last week, had very restless sleep and was hungover and unable to work until about 3pm. That's a bit extreme for me but it's just not something I can do any more.

In general I think it has less to do with age and more to do with drinking frequency, which correlates with age for various reasons. My father is like @MaximumCuddles and has more every single day than I would in a month. He doesn't sleep well but otherwise shows no ill effects.

Yeah there’s a bunch of parameters that go into it; genetics, lifestyle stuff. I’m on the right end of basically all of those spectrums to max out tolerance.

Frequently drinking very small amounts is a pretty simple way to keep your tolerance high.

I will say that now that I’m around 40 or I have more than two drinks I do feel more sluggish the next day but there’s a billion little tweaks you can make to minimize that; good nutrition, hydration, sleep hygiene, frequent exercise, etc.

I exist as a mid tier Dionysus figure in my friend group. One of my other past times in mountain biking, and I frequently bring three liters of water and one liter of half beer, half lemonade. The first time I went out biking with my friends they thought it was hilarious but near the end of our like 50km journey in the hills I was still rocking and rolling and they were dying of exhaustion.

There's a reason why radler is named after biking.

That’s what I tried to tell them!

I’m near 40 and I have consumed alcohol basically every day of my life since I was 21 years old. It’s very unusual for me to go a full 24 hours without consuming alcohol.

I’m writing this with a glass of wine next to me.

I’m an extreme outlier in this regard partially because both my private life and career path are both absolutely steeped in the culture of food & wine and I have extensive culinary training.

It would be extremely unusual for someone like me to not consume alcohol at all. I consume 1-2 standard drinks a day, on party or festival days that can sometimes jump to 3 or 4.

I’m quite moderate in the sense I rarely overindulge, to me alcohol is more like a grocery than to the average person. It accompanies most of my meals except breakfast. Having a beer, a light cocktail or a glass of wine is about as remarkable to me as a cup of coffee or a pot of tea. My drinks are often quite spaced out, I basically never engage in what people consider binge drinking, I find that behavior to be repugnant at this point.

I experimented with full sobriety for six months once, found it to be of no benefit whatsoever, and never thought about it again.

I understand why alcohol consumption is trending the way it is but it fills me with sadness as there is a ton of genius locked into the production of beautiful alcoholic beverages.

I would only ever cut out alcohol consumption under a direct order from multiple physicians. Part of my motivation to be very strong and physically active is to counteract the calories and mild physical stress drinking puts on myself.

Like I said, I’m a rather extreme outlier.

If I have any amount of alcohol I can’t sleep, it gives me a stimulant effect for some reason. So I don’t drink except for the rarest extended family occasion.

After 30 the headaches and hangovers got exponentially worse, or alternatively my ability to deal with them.

I'm in my early 40s and have never liked the taste of alcohol.

Comrades, we found the fake Russian!

1-3 drinks, once a week, socially. 30s.

We're in a strange time for alcohol. A confluence of factors moved against it. The ones I've witnessed:

  • Work From Home killed the standing drinks-after-work outing at my office. Even when enough people happen to be in, no one expects enough people to be in, so don't make contingency plans that allow them to go out ("oh, I would do drinks but I drove", "I have to get back and feed my cat/dog/crippling-social-media-addiction")
  • The economy. Alcohol is expensive af. Other vices are cheap. I hear people say: "Why would I spend $10 on a pint, when I can fill my vape for" ..whatever it costs. I forget. I don't vape. People are getting laid off and are worried about their financial future. They are cutting back.
  • It's just not cool any more. This is vibes, and it might just be my circles, but it's seen as something like smoking cigarettes - unhealthy, dated, low class.

But I'm sure it'll be back eventually. Alcohol is Lindy.

Alcohol is expensive af

Minor note; Alcohol at bars and restraunts are expensive as fuck. Buying direct is actually stupidly cheap, as they've come out with a massive host of surprisingly good whiskey and the like that can be had for very good prices.

Well, if you've a taste for whiskey, atleast.

I've seen people wonder if the social arena, bars and the like, have taken a severe hit due to the leagal-but-not-really-but-kinda-yes grey area that marijuana now falls in, as people are now choosing to stay in and get baked as opposed to go out, throw down lots of money, and not get baked.

But that's just musings on their part.

Alcohol is Lindy.

Lindy...?

Has faced the judgement of ages and come out on top.

Lindy

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindy_effect

Since it has been around for so long, it'll probably be around for a long time still.

Recently, I significantly cut down to 1-2 drinks on a Friday or Saturday every other week or so. Never less than 3 hrs before bedtime. I still enjoy it and my tolerance is about the same (minimally buzzed, no hangovers), but I found that it drastically reduced the quality of my sleep and I'd have to make up the debt the next night.

Sometimes. Around 0.5-1 unit per week on average.

I cut way back due to health concerns. If it wasn't for the fact that alcohol causes cancer and all sorts of nasty stuff, I would drink a bit more often. Sometimes it really hits the spot. When I drank regularly, it was often a waste though. There's a certain time and place for it when it's fantastic to help with relaxing and reflecting, or with a good steak, or as social lubricant, but many other times it just makes you dull or causes a headache or something.

Same age as you. I drank socially when I was single and a yuppy, like 7 drinks a week, but since having kids it's like one 1-3 drinks a month on average. Even one drink feels like a high cost.

I did discover that I react quite poorly to wine and other craft beverages which takes a lot of fun out of countryside tastings though. Even just a few sips puts me into headachesville.

It kind of makes me a bit judgemental of people that drink regularly in middle age. But maybe they're very used to it and don't really suffer.

Rarely, maybe once every couple months. Middle-aged.

I can handle it my alcohol acceptably with stronger liquor, and don't get particularly bad hangovers, but I've never developed the taste, and a lot of casual drinking options like red wine or hoppy beer I remain unsure how normal people drink them.

Most of my social group either tends to either drink multiple times a week, or have a medical reason or past alcoholism reasons to avoid alcohol entirely. There's probably a total reduction, but if so it's probably more an artifact of external pressures on new drinkers, rather than a change to existing ones.

I am in my early 30s and have always been a boring teetotaler. I see no reason to become addicted to alcohol on top of sugar.

I’m middle-aged, maybe 10 times a year, 1-3 drinks. Pretty much for celebrations or live chess games with other drinkers. I drank much more frequently during grad school to get through grading.

Mid 20s here, expect I'm probably on the younger end of the user base in this forum. I do drink, but only very occasionally (somewhere on the order of once every few months) since I am pint sized, am a massive lightweight and get knocked on my ass from barely any alcohol. Basically, whenever any social event in a professional setting calls for it, I'll drink so long as everyone else is doing so. Very uncommonly, I will do so for pleasure or if I want to loosen up a little bit.

I have never gotten blackout drunk and do not ever plan to. It becomes physically difficult to force myself to drink after a certain level of drunkenness.

I'm in my 40s. I haven't had a drink since I was 22, when I absolutely obliterated myself in a blackout bender after a bad break-up.

A lot of my peers have stopped or curtailed their intake significantly. Alcoholism was rampant in my social circles, and everybody seems to have cut back or died.

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