I've known this guy for many years since college, where we briefly dated and found we had a strong connection. However, we both moved to different cities and saw other people, but still talked on and off. However, this fall I found myself living in the same city as he does for the first time in several years. So we've been seeing each other for a few months, but we've been friends (sometimes more) for like eight years. It's been mostly great.

What I didn't know about him is how much he drinks. He has a parent who is an alcoholic, so maybe family history has a role (and also makes this a very sensitive issue for him). He doesn't drink on work nights for the most part as best I can tell, and has never had issues holding down a job (he has a great career) or taking care of his responsibilities. However, he buys vodka by what appears to be the gallon, and I think typically finishes off the better part of that in a weekend. I've also seen him drink 25+ beers in one sitting.

When I make a mostly playful comment about how much he's drinking, he blames it on his heritage (known for being able to hold their alcohol). But really, I'm concerned for him. However, I come from a family where drinking isn't the norm at all and I myself prefer to have maybe three drinks total a week so this seems pretty excessive to me.

Do you think this is something worth bringing up? How would you go about it? Or, am I overreacting? I've debated just walking away instead of trying to address it because this is probably a deal-breaker for me in terms of super long term potential (no one wants to raise kids with a potential alcoholic, right?)
user
I've known
assistant
I've known this guy for many years since college, where we briefly dated and found we had a strong connection. However, we both moved to different cities and saw other people, but still talked on and off. However, this fall I found myself living in the same city as he does for the first time in several years. So we've been seeing each other for a few months, but we've been friends (sometimes more) for like eight years. It's been mostly great.

What I didn't know about him is how much he drinks. He has a parent who is an alcoholic, so maybe family history has a role (and also makes this a very sensitive issue for him). He doesn't drink on work nights for the most part as best I can tell, and has never had issues holding down a job (he has a great career) or taking care of his responsibilities. However, he buys vodka by what appears to be the gallon, and I think typically finishes off the better part of that in a weekend. I've also seen him drink 25+ beers in one sitting.

When I make a mostly playful comment about how much he's drinking, he blames it on his heritage (known for being able to hold their alcohol). But really, I'm concerned for him. However, I come from a family where drinking isn't the norm at all and I myself prefer to have maybe three drinks total a week so this seems pretty excessive to me.

Do you think this is something worth bringing up? How would you go about it? Or, am I overreacting? I've debated just walking away instead of trying to address it because this is probably a deal-breaker for me in terms of super long term potential (no one wants to raise kids with a potential alcoholic, right?)
user
I think
assistant