Standard drinks and alcohol units converter
Convert amounts of alcohol between countries’ standard drinks and units, grams of ethanol, and typical pints, glasses and shots.
That's about the same as a US standard drink. An average liver takes about 1.75 hours to clear it.
What it means
How much alcohol is that?
Pint, can, wine and shot assume 5 %, 5 %, 12 % and 40 % alcohol. The hours are a rough average and say nothing about being safe to drive.
Every unit
That alcohol in every measure
Learn
Three things worth knowing
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ml × ABV × 0.789
Grams of alcohol = volume in ml × strength × 0.789: a 175 ml glass of 12 % wine holds 16.6 g, 2.1 UK units.
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Why countries differ
Standard drinks were set from local serving sizes: a US 12 oz beer, a British half pint. Over 30 countries use at least six different definitions.
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A glass is not a drink
A large 250 ml glass of 13 % wine is 3.2 UK units, more than three “drinks” by the UK measure.
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Background
About standard drinks
A standard drink is a fixed amount of pure alcohol, but each country picked its own: 14 g in the US, 13.45 g in Canada, 10 g in Australia, and the UK unit is 8 g (10 ml of ethanol).
So the same pint of 5 % beer is 1.6 US drinks or 2.8 UK units. UK guidance is no more than 14 units a week.