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

[lukemarsh]

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?

 

[schooey]

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

 

[bum]

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

 

[Adamt]

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...

 

[pokolbinguy]

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

 

[lukemarsh]

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!

 

[kelbygreen]

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!

 

[bum]

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

 

[marksfish]

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:

 

[kelbygreen]

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.

 

[bum]

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.

 

[kelbygreen]

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:

 

[lukemarsh]

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...

 

[ledgenko]

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 ...

 

[pokolbinguy]

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.

 

[stillscottish]

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.

 

[FNQ Bunyip]

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 ...

 

[dgilks]

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.

 

[AussieJosh]

LoL

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

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

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

 

[Bribie G]

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)