
Show Notes
This week on Sober Awkward, Vic chats to Ben Gibbs from The Sober Boozers Club about the rapidly changing world of alcohol-free beer and whether pub culture can survive a generation that’s drinking less, drinking differently, or not drinking at all.
Because let’s face it, Vic used to be the kind of customer pubs loved. These days Vic walks into a pub, orders one alcohol-free beer, has a lovely chat, and leaves. Financially speaking, she’s not exactly the customer she used to be.
So what does this shift mean for the hospitality industry? Can pubs, breweries and bars survive if people are only ordering one or two drinks instead of six? Is the alcohol-free movement a genuine revolution or just a passing trend? And why are so many younger people choosing not to drink in the first place?
Vic and Ben also tackle one of the most debated topics in sobriety: alcohol-free beer. Is it a useful tool or a dangerous game? Should people in early sobriety avoid it altogether? What if it triggers cravings? Why does it work brilliantly for some people and not for others?
Most importantly, Ben shares his experience of trying to keep all the things he loved about his old social life, the pub chats, the mates, the laughs, and the sense of belonging, while quietly removing the alcohol from the equation.
Turns out, getting sober doesn’t always mean changing your entire personality. Sometimes it just means changing what’s in your glass. A fascinating conversation about identity, friendship, changing drinking culture, and whether the future of the pub might be a lot less boozy than we ever imagined.
💛 Resources & Links Follow and Find out more about Ben here - Ben Gibbs (@sober_boozers_club)
📘 Victoria’s memoir – A Thousand Wasted Sundays A brutally honest and hilarious look at motherhood, anxiety, and ditching the booze. 👉 https://amzn.asia/d/0aZ69GpK
Vic's book 'Mumming - A year of Trying (and Failing) to be a better parent - https://amzn.asia/d/0bUJTS2W
🎧 Listen to more Sober Awkward episodes 👉 www.soberawkward.com
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More from Sober Awkward
What if the anxiety you think alcohol is helping is actually being made worse by the booze?
Have you ever woken up after a night of drinking with your heart racing, convinced you’ve embarrassed yourself, upset someone, or somehow ruined your entire life? That awful feeling has a name: hangxiety.
You’ve been absolutely fine all day. You haven’t thought about alcohol, you’re feeling quite pleased with yourself and then suddenly it’s 5pm and your brain goes = WINE.
This week on Sober Awkward, Vic and Ulrika tackle a drinking style that often flies completely under the radar, the stay-at-home drinker. Vic was the loud one. The social one. The drinker making questionable decisions in public and collecting stories she’d rather forget. Ulrika was different.
This Thursday on The Awkward Bits, Vic is back on her own and wondering whether one of the reasons sobriety feels so bloody terrifying is because we make it MASSIVE before we’ve even started.