The Sober Boozers Club with Ben GibbsThe Sober Boozers Club with Ben Gibbs
Sober Awkward
Can you keep the mates, the pub and the football, but ditch the alcohol?
51:08•28 Jun 2026
Pubs, Pints and 0.0%: Ben Gibbs on Staying Social Without the Booze
Episode Overview
- Alcohol-free beer at 0.5% ABV cannot cause intoxication, but each person should honestly assess whether the taste feels triggering.
- In early sobriety, it may help to delay alcohol-free beer if it feels unsafe, and only try it later in supportive, low-pressure settings.
- Good alcohol-free options can keep people in pubs and social spaces, giving venues a new way to attract both drinkers and non-drinkers.
- Much of what people enjoy about drinking is the ritual, connection and dopamine reward, which can be replicated without ethanol.
- High-quality alcohol-free choices matter; a disappointing first AF beer can put someone off sobriety-friendly options altogether.
“There is a lot more to drinking a pint than the ethanol.”
What drives someone to seek a life without alcohol and still love the pub? This Sober Awkward episode teams Vic with Ben Gibbs, founder of The Sober Boozers Club, to chat about alcohol-free beer, pub culture and what socialising looks like when the pint in your hand won’t get you drunk. Ben, an Alcohol Change UK ambassador and leading voice in the alcohol-free beer scene, talks candidly about swapping addiction for a very different kind of beer habit.
He admits he still “drinks like an addict” in terms of quantity, but now it’s craft 0.0% and 0.5% bottles, not Halston Pils and cocaine-fuelled nights. He’s clear on the science too: that tiny 0.5% “cannot get you intoxicated.
It is scientifically impossible.” Vic and Ben chat about how long it took to feel comfortable in pubs again, that eerie moment in the night when everyone else tips into “crazy town”, and the way sobriety can turn you into a “sober parent for the entire pub”. They also tackle a big question for many in recovery: is alcohol-free beer cheating?
Ben’s view is nuanced – early on, if it feels triggering, “maybe just hold off”, but for many it becomes a safe bridge between old habits and a new life. The pair dig into the business side too: can pubs survive if people like Vic only pop in for “one alcohol-free beer and a packet of nuts”? Ben reckons venues that offer proper alcohol-free ranges can actually gain customers, turning pubs into places for connection rather than just intoxication.
Funny, frank and very relatable, this chat is ideal if you’re sober, sober curious, or simply AF-beer-curious and wondering if your social life has to end along with your drinking. Could an alcohol-free pint be your new favourite part of a night out?
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