Across the world, the number of people that are struggling with alcohol problems is on the rise, with the stresses of everyday life causing more people to reach for the bottle and develop problems with it to boot.
At the opposite end of the spectrum, we’re also seeing more and more people totally giving up or abstaining from alcohol, looking to lead a healthier and more profound life without the need of the brain altering substance.
Often that has come as a result of previous abuse, and receiving treatment at the many alcohol rehab UK centres, as well as elsewhere in the world. Giving up alcohol has a big impact on a person’s life, particularly when it comes to their social life, seeking out alcohol free alternatives to going to the pub.
Interestingly, that’s seeing a rise in alcohol free pubs and bars.
The rise of the alcohol free pub
While this might seem like a relatively new concept, they have actually been around for some time. In the UK, for example, temperance bars were popular in the early 1900s, with a number still open today, while in the USA there were establishments open during prohibition that specialised in non-alcoholic drinks such as Coca-Cola and cream sodas.
Over time though, they either became establishments that served alcohol or struggled to survive. However, we’re beginning to see a resurgence.
While you won’t find a non-alcoholic bar open on every street corner like you would a pub, there are places that are gaining quite the reputation and becoming incredibly popular with those that have abstained from alcohol.
Awake is an alcohol free bar in Denver that has been featured in the media all over the world, while over in Manchester, UK, a bar recently opened up and hit headlines with their approach to offering 0% options.
Love From is a pop-up that has arrived in one of the city’s newest and trendiest communities, and has been opened by ambassador for Alcohol Change UK’s Karl Considine. He said of the move, “I have spent the last 10 years in Manchester and have always been very social out and about in the city centre but when I stopped drinking in Jan 2021 that sharply came to halt, for the right reasons at the time.”
He added, ““Little did I know we would get the response we have had since announcing the pop-up and actually, it’s not just sober people like me that are keen to hang out in an alcohol-free bar, it turns out so many other people from all different walks of life also love it and want to come down!”
The tides are turning in what people want from a night out
It’s an interesting concept and something that’s reflective of communities all over the world, with people looking for a bar that isn’t fuelled by booze and the problems that can cause, and the fact that bars like this are turning up in new, trendy communities within cities suggests that there is a culture shift in the making.
Of course, that isn’t going to stop people drinking people drinking alcohol, but with the rise of the non-alcoholic beer scene and bars opening to boot, we can expect cities with one booze-free bar to turn into two, three and new communities be born as a result.
