Expert: Spencer W Thomas - 12/7/2006

Question
Non alcohlic beer, such as Odouls how much can you drink before becoming drunk. Can you drink Odouls anywhere like you do a coke?

Answer
In the US, NA beer, by law, has less than 0.5% alcohol.  If it had exactly 0.5% alcohol, and you're a 160 lb male, if you drank a case (24 bottles) in an hour, your blood alcohol is estimated at 0.05%, which is impaired but not legally drunk. Whether you can actually drink a case of beer in an hour is another question entirely.

In most states, "non alcoholic" beer is still considered an alcoholic beverage and is subject to the same controls as regular beer.  Thus, you can't buy it if you're not of age, and you can't drink it anywhere you can't drink regular beer.  (Thus, in most states, you can't drink it on a public sidewalk, while driving, etc.)