Christmas is the time for an extra tipple for most, but increasingly, more of us are turning to the alternatives when we fancy a pint or a glass of wine, even outside of Dry January. Inspired by her own dry spell, Hannah Collins looks at how our relationship with low and non-alcohol and its marketplace is changing in Wales and the rest of the UK.

The week I gave up alcohol, I was due to go on a huge pub crawl through Cardiff. The change was due to last 12 weeks while my body adjusted to new medication for my mental health, and I was determined to get back to normal as soon as possible. Alcohol is a depressant, which doesn’t mix well with pills designed to do the exact opposite – something that was confirmed to me when I experimentally drank a light beer two days into my prescription and quickly took a turn for the worse. Nevertheless, I had to soldier on.

Strangely, I found myself more concerned with other people noticing I wasn’t drinking than I was about not being able to do it. What would I tell them? What would they say? Should I lie? In the end, I opted to disclose the truth to those closest to me, saying I wanted to avoid any awkward questions on the night. They were sympathetic and supportive, and I was very grateful. One of them even disclosed to me privately their own mental health struggles, and we compared sob stories. Pain shared is pain managed.

I needn’t have worried: even those not in the know never questioned what was in my glass. Age, of course, factors in here: many of us drive, and some are parents without the luxury of a morning’s hangover to sleep off. But it may also be representative of a cultural shift, in general. This August, a report commissioned by alcohol-free brewer Lucky Saint found that almost one in three trips to the pub – and almost 40% of restaurant visits – are alcohol-free, while more than half of the adults surveyed said they now switch between alcohol and alcohol-free drinks more often to reduce their intake. What might be more surprising to older generations is that this figure is 15% higher for Gen Z.

“There’s a pretty clear trend for more young people to avoid alcohol altogether, and it’s a trend that’s been going on for a decade at least,” Andrew Misell, Director for Wales at Alcohol Change UK told me, though he stressed that this isn’t the case for all young people, who are still just as susceptible to alcohol-related problems as anyone else. Speaking as a millennial, if you weren’t siphoning off your parents’ vodka and sending the tallest of your mates into a corner shop to get served, you weren’t living your sixth-form years to the fullest. Today, however, I know at least two teenagers who have almost no interest in drinking whatsoever.

What impact has the pandemic had on drinking habits, then? According to Misell, “Pandemic drinking has had a huge effect on so many lives, with heavy drinkers affected the most, putting them at greater risk of serious alcohol harm. And we know that loneliness, boredom, and anxiety have led to more harmful drinking than ever before.” Given the upward trend, I speculate that perhaps over-indulging during lockdown has led people to swing the other way coming out of it – to ‘detox’ from acquired coping habits.

“The picture is mixed,” Misell says. “Research shows that some people, particularly those drinking at lower levels, are drinking less than before lockdown, and some have stopped drinking altogether. But those who were heavier drinkers before lockdown seem to be more likely to be drinking more.” It seems that COVID may not have converted anyone to one extreme from the other; rather, it exacerbated preexisting tendencies, for better or worse.

Something I noticed on that crawl was that drinking a lot of non-mind-altering liquid isn’t all that fun. Eventually, I was over-caffeinated, over-sugared and craving something more interesting, yet pickings were slim. Low or no-alcohol alternatives have had a reputation for being a bit naff, much like non-dairy alternatives once did. But just as alt-milks have blown up, the low/non-alcohol market in Wales and the UK is a small but fast-growing one.

The problem is that licensed venues have been slow to capitalise. “The big change is that the range of drinks, and the quality, has really improved,” Misell explains. “There are a lot more options these days, especially in the major supermarkets. Pubs and bars seem to be lagging behind a bit and they might be missing a trick – missing out on attracting more people who want to socialise but don’t necessarily want alcohol.”

Wales has its own burgeoning producers with the likes of Tiny Rebel and Drop Bear Beer, the latter of which has been making headlines as the world’s first carbon-neutral brewery. Founded in 2019 by Joelle Drummond and Sarah McNena, the multi-award-winning Swansea company is considered not just one of the best in the UK, but in Europe. To top it off, all its beers are vegan and gluten-free. For Drummond, the shift in consumer interest in these non-boozy alternatives comes from a push towards higher quality, helping legitimise alcohol-free beer as ‘real beer’.

While she does put some stock in the idea of people becoming more health-conscious following lockdown, she doesn’t think one particular age group is driving the shift. “A lot of people focus on individuals belonging to the Gen Z or millennial demographic who don’t drink at all. However, we have noticeably seen an increase in other age groups. We now have customers ranging from 18 to 80! The difference tends to be motivation – for younger demographics, it tends to be a lifestyle choice from our experience, for the older demographics it tends to be driven by health, weight loss, or even a lack of time available to deal with hangovers!

“Yes, binge drinking was very common when I was younger and there’s a lot to be said about how and why these attitudes have changed, but with so much being posted on the internet these days, younger generations are rightfully concerned about what turns up on there. It’s no longer cool to be wasted and it seems that when they do drink, it’s much more moderate and more about the experience.”

She also backs up the data suggesting that drinkers now are more likely to take a blended approach. “It’s the flexi-drinkers who are really driving growth in the market. We as a team fall into this flexi-drinker bracket ourselves – it’s all about having good choices for when you want a break or to moderate. Why should you have to compromise just because you don’t want the alcohol?”

Initiatives to encourage people to cut down, like Sober October and Dry January, cater towards the ‘cold turkey’ approach, which for some can be very revealing. In an effort to alleviate health concerns and counteract disorderly behaviour, major Welsh sports venues including the Principality Stadium and Sophia Gardens have instituted permanent alcohol-free fanzones, creating bigger opportunities for companies like Drop Bear to increase their presence outside of supermarket aisles.

In terms of these products’ effectiveness, Misell tells me that while Alcohol Change UK’s research found that nearly half of those who consumed said products noticed a reduction in their alcohol intake, the majority did not. 

Of course, with a rise in quality, choice and accessibility, we don’t need a reason to drink low or no-alcohol drinks anymore other than enjoying the taste of them. I’ve gone back to drinking since my three-month hiatus, but this brief experience nonetheless changed my relationship with it long-term. Ultimately, good people make for good nights out, and a good drink – no matter what’s in it – needs to be nothing more than that.

If you or someone you know is struggling with their mental health, resources are available at phw.nhs.wales, 111.wales.nhs.uk, mind.org.uk and mentalhealthwales.net. If you need urgent health advice or services, call 111.

Alcohol Change UK offers a free app, Try Dry, which allows people to track their units, calories and money saved, and set custom goals for managing their drinking year-round. It’s available in English and Welsh. Info: alcoholchange.org.uk

words HANNAH COLLINS