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“Sober Curious” or “Semi-Sober”? An Exploration of the Moderation Movement in the United States as “Trendy Teetotalism” or “Neo-Temperance”

Although alcohol consumption is predominant in United States (US) culture, suggesting an overall acceptance of the role of alcohol production and consumption in our communities, there are also persistent rumblings from across the political spectrum about the ills of alcohol in society. Given the history of enacting—and then rescinding—prohibition in the US, debates around the moderation of alcohol consumption in the country are unsurprisingly long-lived and vibrant. At present, the popularity and visibility of no- and low-alcohol (NoLo) beverages is on the rise, seemingly occurring amid a “sober curious” moment. We assess the evidence for a collective moderation movement and explore whether such “semi-sobriety” does or does not amount to a cultural current of “trendy teetotalism” or “neo-temperance.” Using a fermented landscapes approach, we examine the popular and academic coverage of these topics, conduct an market analysis of industry craft brewing data, and analyze the digital geographies of low(er) alcohol beer in the US. Our study offers insights into the wider implications of the movement toward moderation (such as it is), including its cultural, economic, or political ramifications.

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1. 1.

   Although in the UK, there is a formal public health campaign by a non-governmental organization of the same name (Alcohol Change, 2022), “Dry January” in the US is a more generalized phenomenon, with lay people participating in temporary abstinence from alcohol seemingly without knowledge of the original campaign.

2. 2.

   The formal Dry January campaign was launched, and continues, as a charity activity; participants are encouraged to track their personal savings from temporarily abstaining from alcohol consumption in order to guide a charity contribution (Alcohol Change, 2022).

3. 3.

   While this phrase has been called pejorative (Stollznow, 2022), we see it as descriptive, as defined (relatively neutrally) by the Cambridge dictionary as “an attempt to show other people that you are a good person, for example by expressing opinions that will be acceptable to them, especially on social media.”.

4. 4.

   Yeoman (2019, p. 465) maintains that temporary abstinence campaigns “[do] not exist within a governmental vacuum”; they are “regulatory technology…an intentional intervention…made by an external agency—a charity—who are explicit in their intention to permanently reduce individuals’ alcohol consumption. This non-state initiative thus reproduces some of the norms and values that are characteristic of wider alcohol regulation and broader public health discourse.” In other words, even though the mechanism is different from regulatory prohibition, some of the outcomes are the same.

5. 5.

   Data accessed 12/16/2022. Mean indices are 52.04 for weeks overlapping January (n = 27) and 44.5 for those that do not (n = 234). Difference is statistically significant p < 0.05 (two-tailed t-test).

6. 6.

   Data is from IRI Group, Total US, multi-outlet plus convenience plus sum of total liquor chain. It was accessed on 11/15/2022 on https://advantage.iriworldwide.com/.

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We would like to extend our sincere thanks to Emily Nicholls and David Beckingham for providing valuable feedback on this paper as it was in development, as well as for the guidance offered by two anonymous reviewers. We would also like to thank Vaughn Bryan (Myles) Baltzly for inspiration and early conceptual conversation on this topic.

1. Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, Texas State University, San Marcos, TX, USA

   Colleen C. Myles, Bren Vander Weil & Delorean S. Wiley

2. Brewers Association, Boulder, CO, USA

   Bart Watson

Correspondence to Colleen C. Myles .

1. Department of Geography and Anthropology, Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, GA, USA

   Mark W. Patterson

2. Department of Geography and Anthropology, Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, GA, USA

   Nancy Hoalst-Pullen

© 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

Myles, C.C., Vander Weil, B., Watson, B., Wiley, D.S. (2023). “Sober Curious” or “Semi-Sober”? An Exploration of the Moderation Movement in the United States as “Trendy Teetotalism” or “Neo-Temperance”. In: Patterson, M.W., Hoalst-Pullen, N. (eds) The Geography of Beer. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-39008-1_22

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• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-39008-1_22

• Published: 02 December 2023

• Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

• Print ISBN: 978-3-031-39007-4

• Online ISBN: 978-3-031-39008-1

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