“More than just a vehicle for getting drunk”: class, (serious) leisure and the discerning ‘No and Low’ craft beer drinker

Emily Nicholls

doi:10.1080/01490400.2024.2335922

“More than just a vehicle for getting drunk”: class, (serious) leisure and the discerning ‘No and Low’ craft beer drinker

Emily Nicholls

Sociology

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Previous research on alcohol consumption and leisure illuminates the ways in which drinking practices—including a preference for “craft” products—are entangled with notions of taste and distinction and linked to classed drinking identities and modes of “serious leisure”. However, little is known about how this plays out for light drinkers or short or long-term abstainers from alcohol. These supposed non-consumers have traditionally been located on the periphery of dominant drinking cultures. However, an expanding market of craft and speciality No and Low alcohol (NoLo) drinks in Western contexts presents new opportunities for light/nondrinkers to “do” leisure, (re)engage with the market and construct discerning (non)drinking identities. Drawing on findings from in-depth interviews with UK-based NoLo drinkers, this paper highlights how craft NoLo consumers draw on themes of skill, taste and expertise to align themselves with the discerning (middle-class) drinker and perform or embody modes of serious leisure.

Original language	English
Number of pages	18
Journal	Leisure Sciences
Early online date	2 Apr 2024
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1080/01490400.2024.2335922
Publication status	E-pub ahead of print - 2 Apr 2024

Bibliographical note

Access to Document

10.1080/01490400.2024.2335922Licence: CC BY-NC-ND

More Than Just a Vehicle for Getting Drunk Class Serious Leisure and the Discerning No and Low Craft Beer Drinker
© 2024 The Authors
Final published version, 1.56 MBLicence: CC BY-NC-ND

Cite this

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