Cutting down at home is easy. Nobody in your kitchen is going to say "go on, just the one", unless your fridge has started talking, in which case you've got bigger problems.
The pub is different. The work do is different. Your cousin's wedding, where the best man has been "warming up" since 10am, is very different.
When I was cutting down, before I stopped altogether, social stuff was the hard bit. Not the taste. The script.
So here's how to drink less when you're out, without missing the fun or turning into the bloke who swaps the pub for a five-hour run and tells everyone about it.
The short answer
To reduce alcohol socially, decide your limit before you go, make your first drink alcohol-free, and alternate alcoholic and alcohol-free drinks (zebra striping).
Have a short line ready for when people ask, get out of rounds or go last, eat beforehand, and pick venues with decent alcohol-free options. You keep the night out. You lose the autopilot.
Decide before you go, not at the bar
The bar is the worst place to make a decision. It's loud, someone's waving a card, and the barman is staring at you like you're the last contestant on The Chase.
So decide on the bus.
Two drinks then switch. Alcohol-free until food. Alcohol-free all night because it's a school night. The rule matters less than having one.
Vague plans like "I'll just have a few" melt faster than a choc ice on Otley Show day. Specific ones hold up, because you're not renegotiating every time someone says "same again?".
Make the first drink alcohol-free
This is the single best trick I know. The first drink sets the pace for the night.
Start with booze and the second one follows. Start with something alcohol-free that you actually fancy and you've bought yourself an hour.
It has to be good, though. A flat lime and soda is not a reward, it's a punishment.
Order a proper alcohol-free beer, like the Nirvana Bavarian Helles, a crisp golden lager with gentle biscuit notes that won a Great Taste Award. Nobody looks twice at you holding it. Which is the point.
Zebra stripe the rest of the night
If you're still drinking, alternate. One alcoholic, one alcohol-free.
It's called zebra striping, and it halves the booze without halving the night. The NHS tips on cutting down suggest the same sort of thing: alternate with non-alcoholic drinks, pick lower-strength options and plan ahead.
The trick is choosing alcohol-free drinks that feel like a proper turn, not a pause. A Paulaner Weissbier 0.0% is a proper Munich wheat beer, fruity and malty with a hint of sweetness, and in the glass it looks exactly like the boozy one.
Total disguise. Like Clark Kent's glasses, if Clark Kent was from Bavaria.
I've written a whole page on zebra striping if you want the full method.
Sort out the round
Rounds are the silent killer of good intentions. Six mates, six rounds, and suddenly you've had six drinks because it would be "rude" not to.
A few ways out. Go in first and order an alcohol-free one for yourself, which sets the tone.
Or go last, by which point you might be heading home. Or split off into a mini round with whoever else is cutting down.
There's always someone. They're usually relieved you asked.
And it's perfectly fine to just say "I'll get my own tonight". Nobody's handing out yellow cards for it.
Have your line ready
Someone will ask. It's the law of the British pub. You don't owe anyone a TED talk, so keep it short and boring.
"I'm driving." "I'm pacing myself." "Early start." "I just fancied this." Then change the subject to their holiday. People love talking about their holiday more than they love questioning your drink.
If you've stopped completely and want a few more tactics for the mates who won't let it go, here's how to tell your mates you've stopped drinking.
Pick your moments
Not every occasion deserves the same rules. A wedding isn't a Tuesday quiz night. A big birthday isn't a work lunch.
If you want, be looser at the things that really matter to you and firmer at the stuff you only drink at out of habit. Most people find the casual Thursday pint was never really about the beer. It was about the chat, and the chat still happens.
Building in a few drink-free days during the week helps too, so the weekend doesn't feel like a dam bursting. Here's why drink-free days matter.
Bring your own (and make it good)
Going to a house party or a barbecue? Don't rely on the host having anything beyond warm Fanta. Bring your own and bring enough to share.
A mixed box like the Yorkshire Alcohol Free Beer Gift Box is six cans from Yorkshire breweries such as Kirkstall, Brew York and Ilkley Brewery. Turn up with that and you're not "the one not drinking". You're the one with the good beer.
For a dinner party, a couple of Pierre Zéro Rosé 20cl bottles means one glass each, no open bottle, no fuss.
Or bring a few cans of Savyll Moscow Mule, which is fiery ginger, mint and real lime juice. The copper mug is optional. Your dignity is not.
If you'd rather build your own, mix any six or more drinks in our build-a-box and get 5% off, 10% off at twelve and 15% off at twenty-four.
Watch the sneaky triggers
Hunger, tiredness and stress all make cutting down harder. So does turning up starving and frazzled, hoping a pint will fix your week.
Eat first. Get a drink in your hand quickly so you're not empty-handed and twitchy.
And if you like something local, the Ilkley Brewery Maiden Mary is an award-winning pale ale brewed just up the road from our Otley taproom. Citrusy, crisp, and a fair bit easier to get hold of than a seat in Ilkley on a sunny Saturday.
Expect a wobble
Some nights you'll drink more than you planned. That's not failure. That's Saturday.
The useful question isn't "did I do it perfectly?". It's "what made tonight harder?".
Skipped tea? The one mate who treats every pint like a loyalty test? A venue whose only alcohol-free option was a dusty bottle from 2019?
That's all useful. Use it next time.
You don't have to become a different person. If you were fun when you drank, you'll still be fun now. If you were boring, I'm afraid that's not the beer's fault.
The serious bit
Drinks up to 0.5% ABV count as alcohol-free in the UK, but that isn't 0.0%. If you need zero, check the label. If you're pregnant or on medication, check with your GP or midwife first.
If you drink heavily every day, don't stop suddenly without advice, because stopping all at once can be dangerous. Speak to your GP first. And if you're worried about your drinking, Drinkaware is a good, free place to start.
Kombucha Kev, Functional Drinks Club
