How do you determine the number of alcohol servings?

Recommendations about how much a person should drink are made in terms of standard servings of alcohol. But did you know a standard drink (a drink containing 10 g of alcohol) is not the same as a glass of wine or a bottle of beer?

So how much do you drink, when it comes to standard drinks? Use the standard drinks calculator to convert your drinks into standard serving sizes.

Book your health appointments online

Find and instantly book your next health appointment with Healthengine

Find health practitioners

More information

How do you determine the number of alcohol servings?

For more information on drinking alcohol, including drinking disorders and alcohol’s effect on the body, as well as some useful tools, see Alcohol and Drinking.

All content and media on the HealthEngine Blog is created and published online for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice and should not be relied on as health or personal advice. Always seek the guidance of your doctor or other qualified health professional with any questions you may have regarding your health or a medical condition. Never disregard the advice of a medical professional, or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this Website. If you think you may have a medical emergency, call your doctor, go to the nearest hospital emergency department, or call the emergency services immediately.

Skip to main content

  • Home
  • Email Print Link Share
  • How much is too much?
    • What counts as a drink?
      • What's a "standard" drink?
      • How many drinks are in common containers?
    • What's your pattern?
      • What are the U.S. guidelines for drinking?
      • Why do women face higher risks?
    • What's the harm?
      • What is alcohol misuse?
      • What are the harms?
      • What are symptoms of alcohol use disorder?
  • Thinking about a change?
    • It's up to you
      • Pros & Cons
      • Ready...or not?
      • To cut down or to quit...
      • Planning for a change
    • Strategies for cutting down
      • Strategies for Cutting Down
      • Reminder strategies
    • Support for quitting
      • Self-help strategies for quitting
      • Social support
      • Professional help
  • Tools
    • Calculators
      • Cocktail content calculator
      • Drink size calculator
      • Alcohol calorie calculator
      • Alcohol spending calculator
      • Blood alcohol concentration (BAC) calculator
    • Interactive worksheets & more
      • See where you stand
      • Decide whether & how to change
      • Track what you drink
      • Stay in control
  • Q&A's
  • Help Links
      • Information resources
      • Professional help
      • Mutual-support

Home Tools Calculators Drink size calculator

  • Worksheets & more
    • Calculators
      • Cocktail content calculator
      • Drink size calculator
      • Alcohol calorie calculator
      • Alcohol spending calculator
      • Blood Alcohol Concentration Calculator

    How do you determine the number of alcohol servings?

    Do you know how many “standard drinks” (also known as alcoholic drink equivalents) are in a:

    • 21-fluid ounce ballpark souvenir cup of beer?

      1.8 standard drinks per container

      How do you determine the number of alcohol servings?

      How do you determine the number of alcohol servings?

    • 40-fluid ounce bottle of malt liquor?

      4.7 standard drinks per container

    • "half-pint" of 80-proof distilled spirits?

      4.5 standard drinks per container

    • 25-fluid ounce bottle of wine?

      5 standard drinks per container

    Chances are, your cup or beverage label won't tell you the answer—but this calculator will. See this drop-down menu for common container sizes and alcohol content for different beverages.

    Examples:

    (The alcohol content of different types of beer, other malt beverages, and wine may vary.)


    Why is this information important?

    Knowing U.S. standard drink (or alcoholic drink equivalent) sizes and the number of drinks per container can help you make informed decisions about your drinking.

    Can't find your beverage on the menu?

    To check beverages or container sizes not listed in the drop-down menu, you can enter your own amounts into the calculator. Here’s how:

    • Find the alcohol content of the beverage. For all distilled spirits and most wine, the container label lists the percent "alcohol by volume" or alc/vol. Many beer and malt liquor labels do not list this information, however. To find it, search online for the beverage bottler or other reliable sources.
    • Enter the alc/vol in the first column of the calculator.
    • Enter the container size in the third column of the calculator.

    The calculator will show you how many standard drinks the container holds.

    You may also be interested in …

    • Worksheets and drinking tracker cards to privately evaluate your drinking
    • Other calculators for beer and wine drink sizes, alcohol calories and spending, and blood alcohol concentration

    Disclaimer: This calculator is for educational purposes only, to show how the number of standard drinks and the alcohol content (% alc/vol) of a cocktail can vary depending on the type of spirits and the recipe. Any differences between the data you enter in the calculator and the actual amount in a drink could significantly affect the accuracy of the estimates. Because of this and individual variations in alcohol sensitivity and metabolism, the calculator should not be relied upon to predict blood alcohol level or any other measure. Do not drink if you are under the legal age (21 in the United States), and do not drive or engage in other potentially dangerous activities after drinking.

    Is your "lite" beer light in alcohol?

    Not necessarily. Although they have fewer calories, many light beers have almost as much alcohol as regular beer—about 85% as much, or 4.2% versus 5.0% alcohol by volume, on average.

    Check the alcohol content of your beverage. Malt beverages are not required to list their alcohol content on the labels, so you may need to visit the bottler's Web site.

    See What's a standard drink?

    How many "drinks" are in a bottle of wine?

    A typical 25-ounce (750 ml) bottle of table wine holds about 5 "standard" drinks, each containing about 5 ounces. This serving size of wine contains about the same amount of alcohol as a 12-ounce regular beer or 1.5 ounces of 80-proof spirits.

    Get to know what 5 ounces looks like by measuring it out at home. That way you can estimate how many standard drinks you're being served in a restaurant or bar that uses large glasses and generous serving sizes.

    See What's a standard drink?

    Mixing alcohol with certain medications can cause nausea, headaches, drowsiness, fainting, a loss of coordination, internal bleeding, heart problems, and difficulties in breathing. Alcohol can also make a medication less effective. For more information, see Harmful Interactions: Mixing Alcohol with Medicines.

    Examples of medical conditions for which it's safest to avoid drinking include liver disease (such as from hepatitis C), bipolar disorder, abnormal heart rhythm, and chronic pain.

    Among the dangers of underage drinking:

    • Each year, an estimated 5,000 people under age 21 die from alcohol-related injuries.
    • The younger people are when they start to drink, the more likely they are to develop alcohol use disorder at some point in their lives.
    • Underage drinking is illegal—an arrest can lead to losing a job, a driver's license, or a college scholarship.

    Even moderate amounts of alcohol can significantly impair driving performance and your ability to operate other machinery, whether or not you feel the effects of alcohol.

    Heavy drinking during pregnancy can cause brain damage and other serious problems in the baby. Because it is not yet known whether any amount of alcohol is safe for a developing baby, women who are pregnant or may become pregnant should not drink.

    Highest risk

    About 50% of people who drink in this group have alcohol use disorder.

    Increased risk

    This "increased risk" category contains three different drinking pattern groups. Overall, nearly 20% of people who drink in this category have alcohol use disorder.

    Low-risk drinking

    Only about 2% of drinkers in this group has alcohol use disorder.

    A U.S. standard drink contains about 0.6 fluid ounces or 14 grams of pure alcohol (also known as an alcoholic drink-equivalent). That's the amount in 12 ounces of regular beer, 5 ounces of table wine, or 1.5 ounces of 80-proof distilled spirits.

    How do you determine the number of alcohol servings?

    Distilled spirits include vodka, whiskey, gin, rum, and tequila.

    Light to moderate drinking

    • Men: Up to 2 drinks per day
    • Women: Up to 1 drink per day

    Heavy or at-risk drinking

    • Men: More than 4 drinks on any day or more than 14 drinks per week
    • Women: More than 3 drinks on any day or more than 7 drinks per week

    Low-risk drinking

    Men: No more than 4 drinks on any day and no more than 14 per week

    Women: No more than 3 drinks on any day and no more than 7 per week

    People with a parent, grandparent, or other close relative with alcoholism have a higher risk for becoming dependent on alcohol. For many, it may be difficult to maintain low-risk drinking habits.

    Pace yourself: It's best to have no more than one standard drink per hour, with nonalcoholic "drink spacers" between alcohol beverages. On any day, stay within low-risk levels of no more than 4 drinks for men or 3 for women. Note that it takes about 2 hours for the adult body to completely break down a single drink. Do not drive after drinking.

    For comparison, regular beer is 5% alcohol by volume (alc/vol), table wine is about 12% alc/vol, and straight 80-proof distilled spirits is 40% alc/vol.

    The percent alcohol by volume (alc/vol) for distilled spirits is listed on bottle labels and may be found online as well. It is half the "proof," such that 80-proof spirits is 40% alc/vol.

    Convert proof to alc/vol

    Enter in the proof of the alcohol in the left field to automatically calculate the alc/vol.


    Convert to fluid ounces

    Enter in the measurement in milliliters in the left field to automatically calculate the amount in fluid ounces.


    How do you figure out a serving of alcohol?

    Use the standard drink calculator! One standard drink is: a 341 mL bottle of 5% beer (or cider or a cooler), a 5-ounce glass (or 142 mL) of 12% wine or 43 mL of hard liquor.

    How do you calculate the number of standard drinks?

    Formula for Standard Drinks The formula is outlined below: Volume of beverage in Litres, multiplied by the percentage of alcohol volume, multiplied by 0.789, equals the number of standard drinks.

    What are the 3 types of alcohol and the servings sizes for each?

    Serving measurements include:.
    5 ounces of wine per glass, 24 proof or 12 percent ABV..
    12 ounces of beer per serving, 10 proof or 5 percent ABV..
    1.5 ounces of liquor or spirits per shot, 80 proof or 40 percent ABV..

    What does alcohol by serving mean?

    A standard serving contains about ½ fluid ounce of “pure” alcohol, regardless of the type of alcohol.