What's really in your glass?
A US drink is 14 g of alcohol, and most real pours are bigger. Pick a drink, set its size and strength, and guess how many standard drinks it is before you look.
Restaurant pour
How many standard drinks is this?
Higher or lower
Which holds more alcohol?
For adults of legal drinking age, 21 in the US. If you're pregnant or trying, the CDC says there's no known safe amount of alcohol.
Standard drinks by pour
Grams are fluid ounces x 29.57 x ABV x 0.789, and a US standard drink is 14 g. Calories are from the alcohol only, about 7 a gram. Beer, wine and mixers add more from their carbs and sugar.
| Pour | Size | Grams | US drinks | Calories from the alcohol |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beer or hard seltzer | 12 oz, 5% | 14 | 1 | 98 |
| Light beer | 12 oz, 4.2% | 11.8 | 0.84 | 82 |
| Pint of beer | 16 oz, 5% | 18.7 | 1.33 | 131 |
| IPA | 16 oz, 7% | 26.1 | 1.9 | 183 |
| Strong craft beer | 12 oz, 10% | 28 | 2 | 196 |
| Glass of wine | 5 oz, 12% | 14 | 1 | 98 |
| Restaurant pour | 6 oz, 13.5% | 18.9 | 1.35 | 132 |
| Big glass of wine | 8 oz, 12% | 22.4 | 1.6 | 157 |
| Very big pour | 9 oz, 13.5% | 28.4 | 2 | 198 |
| Bottle of wine | 750 mL, 12% | 71 | 5.1 | 497 |
| Bottle of strong wine | 750 mL, 13.5% | 79.9 | 5.7 | 559 |
| Shot | 1.5 oz, 40% | 14 | 1 | 98 |
| A double | 3 oz, 40% | 28 | 2 | 196 |
| Non-alcoholic beer | 12 oz, 0.5% | 1.4 | 0.1 | 10 |
Real pours, in US standard drinks
12 oz beer12 oz, 5%5 oz wine5 oz, 12%A shot1.5 oz, 40%16 oz pint16 oz, 5%6 oz pour6 oz, 13.5%16 oz IPA16 oz, 7%9 oz pour9 oz, 13.5%
A bottle750 mL, 13.5%Count cocktails by their pours
A cocktail is the sum of its pours, each with its own ounces and strength. A margarita is its tequila and its orange liqueur, so add each one. A cocktail with a double pour of 40% spirits is 2 US drinks before anything else goes in.
Non-alcoholic and alcohol free
"Non-alcoholic" beer can hold up to 0.5% alcohol by US label rules, about 1.4 g in a 12 oz bottle, a tenth of a drink. "Alcohol free" can only go on a malt drink with none.
5 sources
- National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, What Is A Standard Drink? Updated December 2025niaaa.nih.gov
- National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Drinking Levels and Patterns, updated January 2026niaaa.nih.gov
- MedlinePlus, Calories in alcoholmedlineplus.gov
- 27 CFR 7.65, Alcohol content (malt beverage labeling), Cornell Legal Information Institutelaw.cornell.edu
- Jones AW, Evidence-based survey of the elimination rates of ethanol from blood with applications in forensic casework, Forensic Science International, 2010pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
