Nico Tortorella is opening up about his sobriety journey. The Younger actor, 37, explained to Us Weekly exclusively how becoming sober allowed him to create a family with wife Bethany C. Meyers, with whom he shares daughter Kilmer Dove, 2, and son Pesce Pearl, 13 months. "Bethany and I have known each other for, I mean, we're coming up on 20 years," Tortorella said while discussing his kratom-infused brewski, DER. "We've always talked about having a family. I had to get sober to realize that dream. I wouldn't be where I am today if I kept drinking. I probably wouldn't be married. I definitely wouldn't have kids." Younger's Nico Tortorella and Bethany Meyers Welcome Baby No. 2 The City on Fire actor, who got sober in 2015 after finishing season one of Younger, credits Meyers, 39, for helping him abstain from alcohol. Tortorella told Us that he was drinking heavily during the show's first season, which concluded with some moments he "was not proud of" during the season one wrap party. Determined to make a change, Tortorella sought out sobriety with the support of Meyers, with whom he has a "deeply spiritual" relationship. "My sobriety journey is one of spirituality, not just abstinence," he explained. "[Bethany and I], in so many ways, have grown up together and have experienced life as reflections of each other. As a parent, sobriety means a totally different thing. I couldn't imagine a life using full-time and raising kids. People do it...but it was never going to work for me and for our family and our relationship. Keeping my kids safe is my number one priority, and that's harder to do when you are not totally present." Courtesy of Nico Tortorella/Instagram Sobriety was also essential to Tortorella's career after years of using alcohol "as a creative outlet." Since becoming sober, Tortorella has starred in six seasons of Younger and appeared on AMC's The Walking Dead: The World Beyond. He is now launching his very own alcohol-free beverage that offers a low dose of kratom, a plant native to southeast Asia. "It's been a long time in the making," he said of DER, which stands for "drink, enjoy and repeat." "I found the plant kratom like eight, nine years ago after I got sober from alcohol," he continued. "I grew up in a bar, always around alcohol. [It] runs through my family pretty heavily. If I wanted to keep working, I had to stop drinking, and getting sober really changed everything in my life." Nico Tortorella on Why 'The Mattachine Family' Was 'Emotional Olympics' Tortorella added that the beverage has "a sense of nostalgia" with "Americana, late '90s [and] early 2000s branding" and is reminiscent of the beers he grew up with - without any of the alcohol. "The idea is you can pick up a four-pack and show up to a party, and it's crisp and it's totally alcohol-free," Tortorella said. "I wanted it to feel like a beer we all know and love. I knew that I wanted to make a Kratom product that [has] a very low dose [of] 30 milligrams. It's the lowest drink that is kratom-only on the market. I found a friend in this plant." DER is available in 4-packs online and as individual 12 oz cans or 4-packs at CBD kratom stores.