# Coopers Ultra Light Birrel... Able To Drink And Drive With This Stuff?



## lukemarsh (27/1/10)

As I am on my P's (am 18 yrs old) I can't drink beer and drive... I work at Woolworths, who sell Coopers Birrel. This got me thinking about buying a sixpack to enjoy on my breaks at work, but then I looked closely and realised it has 0.5% alc/vol.
Is this enough alcohol to be considered... well... alcoholic? Technically if it is sold at Woolies even kids could drink it, right?
If I drank a few of these and drove, would it show on a breath tester if I was pulled over?
Better yet, is it even legal to drink this stuff at work?


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## schooey (27/1/10)

Assuming the 0.5% ABV is accurate, then it would take 5.33 cans (if they are 375ml cans) of it to equal one standard drink. So if you were to drink 6, I'm pretty sure that would register on a breathalyser


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## bum (27/1/10)

If Ps in SA is the same as VIC - zero is zero. Forget about it.


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## Adamt (27/1/10)

Well... do the maths. 6x 0.5% beers is the same amount of alcohol at 1x 3% beer.

Yes, it could show on a breath tester, and no you probably shouldn't be drinking it at work, nor driving after drinking it.

Wanting to buy low-alcohol beer on a break at work is a little worrying, though...


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## pokolbinguy (27/1/10)

Have you tried it before MarshBrew??? from memory its not too flash


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## lukemarsh (27/1/10)

I haven't tried it, no. I didn't expect it to be awesome, but I just figured it'd be nice to be able to drink beer without having the worry of being intoxicated at work or while driving...
If only we lived in the perfect world!


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## kelbygreen (27/1/10)

well you get cought with them at work I dare say your job will soon need to be filled as you wont have one any more. Its still a alcholic beverage so its prohibited in the work place. I also say I wouldnt try it on your p's If on opens sure I heard on the radio of 5 different cops (at different places and times) drunk a whole 24 cans of light beer in 4 hours and blew under the limit (would def not try this) but apparently it has happened . All different factors come into it, your body weight and height, your motablism and prob heaps of stuff so what could happen to one person wont say the same will happen to another. If driving I recomend not drinking or only have 1 or 2 over a few hour period never drink more then 1-2 in a few hours and drink I usually never drive once the beer is cracked unless I truly have to and only had 1 beer

Edit: the last bit wont apply to you only people on full licence but still not recomended!


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## bum (27/1/10)

No. No different factors come into it. He's on his p-plates. Zero BAC, right?


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## marksfish (27/1/10)

it all depends on how much you want to keep your license, where i work there is a strict 0.0 policy with random breath tests so i leave the drinking until i get home when i get stuck into the best beer in the world.

HOMEBREW :icon_cheers:


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## kelbygreen (27/1/10)

yeah thats why I said only people on there full licences. even drinking the night befor you gotto watch out on your p's as you can blow over in the morning.


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## bum (27/1/10)

kelbygreen said:


> yeah thats why I said only people on there full licences.



I can hardly be blamed for not having read an edit you made after I opened the thread. Calm down, killer.


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## kelbygreen (27/1/10)

haha yeah true. I did note it at the top but figured after reading it that people would get lost to what I was saying (happens alot  ) so thought I would verify it. Still dont condone any one drink driving but its there choice. Not much we can do apart from give our thoughts :lol:


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## lukemarsh (31/1/10)

I never drive when I've been drinking, and DO NOT want to lose my license...
The only reason I was considering this was because Coopers Birrel, as alcoholic as everyone on here may know, is advertised as being a beer flavoured softdrink. I was just wondering if they can do this if it actually has a substantial amount of alcohol in it. If it is THAT bad why would they even consider selling it at Woolies?? Just wanted to clarify this...


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## ledgenko (31/1/10)

L&G ... I think the terminology you are chasing is "near beer".. having spent several months in the Gulf of shitdom aka middle East I am thinking this stuff is complete bollocks... has buggar all flavour and you get a hangover and up several times overnight to pee ... reall not worth the effort ...


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## pokolbinguy (31/1/10)

contact coopers if you really want to know more about the product... but at the end of the day it contains alcohol (while yes is only like 0.5%)....and to be honest it doesn't taste good enough to warrant the trouble. Just drink some non-alcoholic ginger beer or something like that instead and leave the beer drinking for when you get home.


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## stillscottish (31/1/10)

kelbygreen said:


> I heard on the radio of 5 different cops (at different places and times) drunk a whole 24 cans of light beer in 4 hours and blew under the limit (would def not try this) but apparently it has happened .



True.
Mate of mine is a Copper and tried to get over the limit on Light once. It just wasnt physically possible for him to ingest enough quick enough. But he is a big bloke and ymmv.


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## FNQ Bunyip (1/2/10)

Adamt said:


> Wanting to buy low-alcohol beer on a break at work is a little worrying, though...




Yes it is ,, Only full strength beer should be consumed in lunch hours , 3 quick schooners and a Tbone steak .... Ahh bring back the good old days ...


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## dgilks (1/2/10)

kelbygreen said:


> well you get cought with them at work I dare say your job will soon need to be filled as you wont have one any more. Its still a alcholic beverage so its prohibited in the work place. I also say I wouldnt try it on your p's If on opens sure I heard on the radio of 5 different cops (at different places and times) drunk a whole 24 cans of light beer in 4 hours and blew under the limit (would def not try this) but apparently it has happened . All different factors come into it, your body weight and height, your motablism and prob heaps of stuff so what could happen to one person wont say the same will happen to another. If driving I recomend not drinking or only have 1 or 2 over a few hour period never drink more then 1-2 in a few hours and drink I usually never drive once the beer is cracked unless I truly have to and only had 1 beer
> 
> Edit: the last bit wont apply to you only people on full licence but still not recomended!



I wouldn't count on someone losing their job. Pretty much every piece of legislation in Australia that deals wuth alcohol defines an alcoholic beverage as one containing more that 0.5% ABV. An employer would have a hard time arguing that Birrell constitutes such a beverage for the purposes of terminating employment unless a different definition was incorporated into the employment agreement. As for the issue of being on P plates in VIC and NSW, there is no doubt that it contains some alcohol and isn't worth the risk.


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## AussieJosh (1/2/10)

LoL 

"buying a sixpack to enjoy on my breaks at work"

LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Is this a joke!? Did your mates put you up to this!?


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## Bribie G (1/2/10)

In my 20s in the UK I used to work in a glassworks that made fluoro tubes. Of course it was a 24 / 7 operation as the glass furnaces only got turned off once a year for re-lining. On the night shift we would send out a guy in a company van to bring back the guys' beer order for the shift  Most of the workers were totally pissed for the whole shift including yours truly, surrounded by red hot glass tubing, pallets of sharp tubes, mountains of broken glass ("cullet") etc etc. I only cut myself once in two years, a little nick on my middle finger. 
Ah the good old days indeed B)


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## domonsura (1/2/10)

FNQ Bunyip said:


> Yes it is ,, Only full strength beer should be consumed in lunch hours , 3 quick schooners and a Tbone steak .... Ahh bring back the good old days ...



:beer: Damn straight..... :beerbang: , and working on Friday afternoons should be illegal.... :super:


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## drsmurto (1/2/10)

FNQ Bunyip said:


> Yes it is ,, Only full strength beer should be consumed in lunch hours , 3 quick schooners and a Tbone steak .... Ahh bring back the good old days ...



Good old days are still here!

I regularly go to the pub for lunch and knock back a few pints.

Boss even shouted the first round last time.

EDIT - spelling


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## AussieJosh (1/2/10)

DrSmurto said:


> Good old days are still here!
> 
> I regularly go to the pub for lunch and knock back a few pints.
> 
> ...



Your living the dream mate!

Goverment job???


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## drsmurto (1/2/10)

AussieJosh said:


> Your living the dream mate!
> 
> Goverment job???



Public service - yes.

When i worked in the UK at a uni the boss and i would have our semi regular meetings at a pub over lunch and a few pints.

I know no other way. :chug:


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## manticle (1/2/10)

Adamt said:


> Wanting to buy .....beer on a break at work is a little worrying, though...




You've obviously never worked as a chef.


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## komodo (1/2/10)

Man we used to always go to the pub for lunch - hell I remember coming back to the office and having to crawl back up the stairs. Then sitting there for a couple of hours looking busy - was too scared to actually work for fear of royally ******* up.

These days I never have a beer at work unless im at a business meeting


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## manticle (1/2/10)

I used to spend every break in the pub when I worked in kitchens. The head chef would buy me pints. It made returning for dinner service ever so much more pleasant.

These days I handle irreplaceable artworks so those days are definitely gone. Regardless of who might know or catch me I just wouldn't touch a drop then touch a Goya etching then drop a goya etching..........


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## domonsura (1/2/10)

manticle said:


> You've obviously never worked as a chef.



:lol: so true, worked many a shift half cut...the Lone Star in NZ was great for that - you asked for a water - you got a beer. You asked for a softdrink, you got a beer. You asked for something/anything non-alcoholic, and you got....well, looked at funny - and a beer. Ahhhhh...them were the days, pissed as a chook trying to control a 30cm razor sharp knife......


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## manticle (1/2/10)

I might do a poll one day to see how overrepresented ex- chefs and IT nerds are on this forum. I'd hazard a guess that tradies would fill in most of the blanks.


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## AussieJosh (1/2/10)

My girlfriend is a chef! She works between 45-55 hrs a week for a very avrage wage! And whats this "lunch break" thing you all speak of!? I think she has had 3 "lunch brakes" in 7 years!

I was a "chef" for about 3 months and i told them to stick it! To much hard work for me!

Now i get lunch brakes....but i dont get to go to the pub. ):

Any public servant jobs going atm?


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## manticle (1/2/10)

AussieJosh said:


> My girlfriend is a chef! She works between 45-55 hrs a week for a very avrage wage! And whats this "lunch break" thing you all speak of!? I think she has had 3 "lunch brakes" in 7 years!
> 
> I was a "chef" for about 3 months and i told them to stick it! To much hard work for me!
> 
> ...




I certainly never mentioned lunch break. The break between double shifts is what I'm referring to - mostly from around 3.30 - 5pm in the places I worked. Lunch was generally an unknown except what we were making for other people. Dinner was often a hot dog at 2am.

It's a very healthy lifestyle.


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## domonsura (1/2/10)

manticle said:


> I certainly never mentioned lunch break. The break between double shifts is what I'm referring to - mostly from around 3.30 - 5pm in the places I worked. Lunch was generally an unknown except what we were making for other people. Dinner was often a hot dog at 2am.
> 
> It's a very healthy lifestyle.



Hell yes...all the waitresses hotdogs you can eat....:lol: (mmmmmmmm....waitresses hotdogs......mmmmmmmmm)
After 10 years in the game, I was one of the healthiest people I knew! (Ignore the fact that I knew virtually no-one who wasn't in the hospo trade)

Most chef's I knew started smoking just so they could _get a break at all_ ......


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## AussieJosh (2/2/10)

This should serve as a lesson for any of you who may dine at a nice restraunt/ Nice hotel.....If you can see the Chefs Pass (Where they are cooking) at the end of the night, get up walk over and say thank you, if you enjoyed the meal and if you can afford it tip the Chef directly. Because i would say 70% of the time when you tip. the chef never gets to see it! And honestley...works harder and longer then the waiting staff for very much the same money! and even less if the are an apprentice!


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## Nevalicious (2/2/10)

manticle said:


> I might do a poll one day to see how overrepresented ex- chefs and IT nerds are on this forum. I'd hazard a guess that tradies would fill in most of the blanks.



Haha, so true, I have a few IT mates who are right into brewing and this site also... I'm a tradie, so Manticle, I think you may be on to something!!


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## lukemarsh (2/2/10)

I'm struggling with the fact that there are some people on this forum who would dare question the idea of wanting a beer on your breaks at work!
I'd love to be able to swig a beer while I'm serving customers... they're the worst kind of person, customers... unless they're buying brewing goods, which I proudly scan.


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## kelbygreen (2/2/10)

fact is you drink at work and hurt yourself you and the company is in alot of crap. Yeah I know some and prob most of us been to work almost drunk at some stage (big night befor or what ever) but still its all good until you hurt yourself. I wouldn't recommend drinking at work though bit hard to explain a 6 pack in the lunch room and they will most prob think you have a drinking problem (not like any one on this forum :lol: ) but its best to just wait. I have never drunk at work or at lunch but have had a big night before thats about it.


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## lukemarsh (2/2/10)

Ah yeah, fair enough... As much as it would be hard for me to go beyond giving myself a paper cut on a receipt at work, it probably wouldn't be a good idea to drink at work! I think if there was a sixpack of Birrel in the lunchroom fridge, nobody would really think alot of it... if the manager saw, then MAYBE he'd question it or say it was inappropriate, but because the place sells it as a soft drink, nobody would really think it was actual alcoholic beer.
Having said that, I can't be bothered trying anyway, because like you said, it isn't worth the risk for shitty tasting not-beer!


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## drsmurto (3/2/10)

kelbygreen said:


> fact is you drink at work and hurt yourself you and the company is in alot of crap. Yeah I know some and prob most of us been to work almost drunk at some stage (big night befor or what ever) but still its all good until you hurt yourself. I wouldn't recommend drinking at work though bit hard to explain a 6 pack in the lunch room and they will most prob think you have a drinking problem (not like any one on this forum :lol: ) but its best to just wait. I have never drunk at work or at lunch but have had a big night before thats about it.



I did mention that we go to the pub for lunch on a regular basis.

On site we also have regular bbqs put on by the social club. Beer is always available. 

It depends on what job you do. I think i (and a majority of my colleagues) are smart enough not to do dangerous work after a few beers. Catching up on paperwork is usually the order of the day. 

Or trawling through old posts on AHB h34r:


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## Pollux (3/2/10)

LOL, thinking back to my pub managing days I was normally semi drunk from the 10th hour of a 16hour shift onwards, the chefs in the kitchen were the same.


I'd love to be able to have a beer on my breaks at work now, we work one hour on, 15mins off, repeat for the 8 hour shift. Would make dealing with the idiots so much more pleasant.


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## MarkMc (3/2/10)

Same here - always used to have a drink at lunch time. Now I work for an Yank company and its strictly no alcohol at any time including on when on call, which is permanently at the minute..... Its amazing how many times my phone is "on charge" in the back room....


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## robv (3/2/10)

manticle said:


> I might do a poll one day to see how overrepresented ex- chefs and IT nerds are on this forum. I'd hazard a guess that tradies would fill in most of the blanks.



Hey Manticle
I'm in IT(not a nerd though) right into brewing and this forum,I've learnt heaps here.

Chees
Rob


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## WarmBeer (3/2/10)

Robv said:


> <snip>I'm in IT(not a nerd though) </snip>



Oxymoron

WarmBeer - dyed in the wool nerd. And proud!


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## HoppingMad (3/2/10)

You guys have got me curious to try one of these Birrel things. Might grab one tonight.

Heard from an old timer that CUB workers in the old Victoria St, Collingwood premises used to be allowed to drink as much as they liked within the premises. This was done to stop them stealing the stuff. In those days forklifts used to wind up in some pretty weird places. :lol:

Gotta admit, I'm allowed a beer at lunch but I'm not operating heavy machinery near a kindergarten - work in a CBD office.

Hopper.


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## jonocarroll (3/2/10)

HoppingMad said:


> Gotta admit, I'm allowed a beer at lunch but I'm not operating heavy machinery near a kindergarten


Ditto - Theoretical Physicist. Worst I can do after a lunch-time beer is drink and derive! 

Boom Boom Tish... Hic.


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## Pollux (3/2/10)

Oh Sweet Jesus...............Bad joke, bad joke..........


I still laughed at it though...


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