At the start of a fresh new year, many people take the pledge to adhere to a “Dry January,” spending the month without any beer, wine or spirits. This commitment to a month of sobriety, after typical holiday merriment and drink, allows for people to take a break from alcohol and evaluate the relationship they have with it.

These periods of abstinence have increasingly popped up throughout the calendar, “Sober October” and the growingly popular “Dry Feb” which is an initiative of the Canadian Cancer Society. There is certainly a long list of benefits from abstaining from alcohol. Better sleep, better immune system function, money in the bank, and improved moods, to name a few.

With each passing year, people choosing to take these periods off from drinking are finding more and more options to enjoy the flavour of their favourite drinks, but without the alcohol content.

In the beer space, non-alcoholic beers have made vast improvements in recent years. The typical large brewer non-alcoholic brands can be found at most grocery stores for people looking to enjoy lager style beers. Increasingly, craft brewers have been making tremendous headway in creating flavourful non-alcoholic beers. One such example is Upstreet Craft Brewing’s newest initiative, Libra. A non-alcoholic pale ale with tropical and citrus hop aromas, this beer bridges the gap between hop forward craft ales and non-alcoholic low calorie beer.

Other bars and restaurants have started to offer flavourful alcohol-free options as well. Slaymaker & Nichols in Charlottetown developed a Gin-less Fizz cocktail and has even made the recipe available to anyone wishing to create one at home. Follow along on their social media to get a copy of the recipe for yourself.

Village Green in Cornwall has made a Carbonated Lemon Water for guests to enjoy, allowing them to continue making a stop at their local pub to enjoy a beverage without the alcohol.

Taking the time to step away from consuming alcohol really provides individuals with an opportunity to examine their personal relationship with it. Many people have seen their own consumption go up over the last year, as more idle time at home often created more opportunities to drink. Spending time without consuming gives people a chance to explore other areas of interest they may have not searched out otherwise and enjoy the health benefits that come along.