Kidsbeer

[Doc]

Maybe call me a responsible parent, or a wowser, but this is wrong on so many levels.
On the upside it doesn't actually contain alcohol.

Beers,
Doc

Non-alcoholic 'beer' targets Japanese children
By UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL
Published August 5, 2005

OGI, Japan -- A Japanese company, unable to sell a juice that tastes like an exotic plant, has found that the same concoction is popular among consumers as "Kidsbeer."

"Even kids cannot stand life unless they have a drink," is the advertising slogan.


The alcohol-free drink started as a sweet carbonated beverage sold at a restaurant in Fukuoka named Guarana after its principal ingredient, a South American plant. When restaurateur Yuichi Asaba decided to rename the drink "Kidsbeer," it became much more popular, Kyodo News Service reports.

Asaba licensed the drink to the beverage manufacturer Tomomasu, which cut the sweetness and gave "Kidsbeer" a beer-like head. The company began shipping a modest 200 bottles a month in 2003, which has grown to 75,000 bottles a month as more restaurants and stores began selling "Kidsbeer."

 

[Murray]

Truly responsible parents would be educating their children by brewing them small beer

 

[PostModern]

Truly responsible parents would be educating their children by brewing them small beer

[post="70620"][/post]​

:super:
Just got approval from "the Minister" to serve the odd small beer to the small PoMos. Educate their palates young. Kids drinking that sparkling crap will grow up expecting real beer to taste like that and end up drinking things like New.

 

[SpaceMonkey]

Kids want to be like adults, let them drink their kidsbeer and prend they're alll grown up like daddy-san I reckon. I'm sure I'm not the only one who remembers "smoking" Spaceman candy cigarettes as a kid! I never actually took up smoking though.

 

[warrenlw63]

Spaceman candy cigarettes as a kid! I never actually took up smoking though.

[post="70624"][/post]​

Actually when I was a kid they were called "Fags". Name has now been changed to "Fads". Is that to curtail smoking or to appease ... Nuff said.

Warren -

 

[Airgead]

Truly responsible parents would be educating their children by brewing them small beer

[post="70620"][/post]​

Yep. Both kids (4 and 2) get a little sip of wine or beer to taste. In a year or 2 we'll do the french thing and start serving them watered wine with meals (apparently the french to that from age 4). Rather than watering beer *shudder* I'll make up small beer for them.

Get em used to it early and there's no ilicit thrill in going wild with it later.

Cheers
Dave

 

[ryanator]

I work at Woolworths and we always get young tackers around the age of 10 coming in and buying Coopers non-alcoholic beer thinking they are gonna get ripped.

Supermarkets actually sell flavouring essence which is 49% alcohol in a 50ml bottle (about 25ml of alcohol) and anyone of any age is allowed to buy it. They are about $1 at the most. When we were young we used to buy the fruit flavoured ones and mix them with lemonade. Tasted pretty bad though!

Parents, if your kids constantly have brightly coloured tongues, BEWARE!

:beer:

 

[nonicman]

I'd be worried about kiddies hyped up on Guarana, can't be good.

 

[Sean]

Yep. Both kids (4 and 2) get a little sip of wine or beer to taste. In a year or 2 we'll do the french thing and start serving them watered wine with meals (apparently the french to that from age 4). Rather than watering beer *shudder* I'll make up small beer for them.

Get em used to it early and there's no ilicit thrill in going wild with it later.

Quite right. Worked for me. (I'm not French, but my grandmother had me on wine from about the age of 3.)

Speaking small beer, has anyone got a good recipe?

 

[user 384]

Yep. Both kids (4 and 2) get a little sip of wine or beer to taste. In a year or 2 we'll do the french thing and start serving them watered wine with meals (apparently the french to that from age 4). Rather than watering beer *shudder* I'll make up small beer for them.

Get em used to it early and there's no ilicit thrill in going wild with it later.

Cheers
Dave

[post="70639"][/post]​

Yeah sounds good in principle, but I'm not sure it works. I was raised this way. Wine was not taboo and from a young age we were allowed to have a small amount of wine with a meal.

On the plus side I grew up appreciating that wine and alcochol in general can be consumed for the pure enjoyment of the flavour and is not only limited to something you get smashed on.

On the negative side it didn't stop me from a young lad from acting like a complete tool with alcohol. Only difference was I got smashed on quality alocohol :blink: .

My personal view is that you need to supplement an appreciation for wine/beer with the appreciation of your own body/health. You need to educate your children that wine/beer can be enjoyed in moderation and that excessive consumption can be harmful. This last aspect can be be extremely hard if they see family and/or friends doing the exact opposite. Couple this with the problem that the younger you are the less you comprehend your own mortality and a cultural attitude in Australia (particularly among males) that partying hard is what Aussies do best.

Adopt a harm minimisation approach by educating your kids on the pleasures and the perils, teach self respect, let them know you love them, provide a safety net of being non-judgemental if they stuff up, and you will still need to cross your fingers that all goes well.

Cheers
MAH

 

[Borret]

My take on this is the same for if you do or if you don't.. The main thing is kids, particularly young ones, learn by is example. So if they see you getting stonkered all the time then that is their impression is of what is good and right, not neccesarily what you have instead told them is. Same goes for driving like a maniac (or even swearing in front of them for that matter). When they come to licence time and your trying to tell them to stick to the speed limit, drive carefully, don't road rage or abuse other drivers- why would they listen when they have spent the last 15 yrs watching you do it from the backseat.

As for the kids drinking alcohol we personally don't do it. Don't see it as something that is neccesary for a 2.5 year old. Besides that I have experienced others embaressment in public when their kids are hastling them for 'the drips'. Further down the track the skinny beers/wines etc may be introduced on occassion as they were when I were lad, but not at this tender age.

Borret

 

[PostModern]

My parents were fairly laid back about alcohol when I was growing up. They never got plastered and didn't drink every day. In fact, they didn't drink every week, even. I was allowed "tastes" or sips from their glass occassionally, but not until I was a teenager was I allowed a whole drink. That didn't mean I didn't drink at other times tho, I got into binging with friends from about 14 or 15... I ended up being a complete tool with alcohol in my late teens and even right into the middle of my 20's.

I honestly think the only thing stopping me from being a complete moron now is that I've developed a tolerance for alcohol. I don't want my kids to go down that path, losing respect for alcohol, and having others lose respect for them. That's why I think I'll be introducing them to beer and wine young and demystifying the whole thing... but like MAH said, and my own experience bears out, no matter what parents do, kids will still do their own thing. I think that as parents we need to do what we can to show them a healthy way of dealing with what is no-doubt a genetic issue.

I was thinking of treating mild beer as a tonic for health, and as my kids already have a good attitude towards medicines (right dose of the right medicine at the right time), they'll hopefully transfer some of that attitude over to beer and wine. I dunno. Drinking is a big part of our culture, so ensuring the next generation(s) are introduced into it properly is an important responsibility.

EDIT: and to address what Borrett has brought up about age, I don't think it's appropriate for toddlers. I'm thinking more about by 8/9 year old than his little brothers.