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It's pretty easy to go over two units in a day if you drink casually and aren't paying attention. Checking a handy online chart, 2 units of red wine is 70% of

It's pretty easy to go over two units in a day if you drink casually and aren't paying attention. Checking a handy online chart, 2 units of red wine is 70% of an US measuring cup - 167ml. So if you thought a "cup" (as in measuring cup) of wine was fine, you'd be over 2. A bottle of 5% beer is defined as 1.7 units, therefore a bottle of 6.5% or 7% craft beer would be well over 2 units.

whimsicalism 5y ago
A measuring cup of wine is obviously more than a standard drink.
- capitainenemo 5y ago
  It's a very large glass of wine, yes. That said, I've been in restaurants with large wine glasses that generously fill them. I guess if you're paying by the bottle who cares. Ensures more consumption? And, was more noting how people could deceive themselves. I just fetched one of the large wine glasses from the kitchen. Filled but well below the rim (maybe a couple of cm below) it was 2 cups of water (so 6 units!) - I emptied out the water and filled it with 1 cup of water (so well over the 2 units) the glass was less than half full. Visually looked about a third of the way up the glass due to the curve.
- Symbiote 5y ago
  In England, pubs usually sell "small", "medium" or "large" glasses of wine, which are 125mL, 150mL and 250mL. ([1] for good evidence for this, that you can buy measures for it. There's also a law [2].) But the comparisons in this discussion are all confused, as the first person wrote "US measuring cup" but used UK alcohol "units" (which are 10mL = 6g), but the US "standard drink" contains 11g = 18mL alcohol. UK units are nicer to calculate, as an example 150mL glass of 13% wine contains 150 × 13 ÷ 1000 → 1.95 "units" alcohol (19.5mL). But the US standard drink is probably nearer to what people actually consider one drink. The UK site shows that typical drinks are nearer 2-3 units [3]. [1] https://www.wineware.co.uk/professional-stainless-steel-thimble-bar-wine-measure-set-1x-125ml-1x-175ml-1x-250ml https://www.wineware.co.uk/professional-stainless-steel-thim... [2] https://www.gov.uk/weights-measures-and-packaging-the-law/specified-quantities https://www.gov.uk/weights-measures-and-packaging-the-law/sp... [3] https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/alcohol-support/calculating-alcohol-units/ https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/alcohol-support/calculating-alc...
  - capitainenemo 5y ago
    Yeah, sorry, I was trying to use the "measuring cup" for familiar reference purposes. The 10 ml of alcohol measure in the UK (with 1-2 units being the "safe" range) definitely seems a lot clearer and easier to approximate if your drink has an ABV % to me than the "standard drink which is all over the place: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_drink https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_drink "For example, in the United States, a standard drink contains about 14 grams of alcohol." "Different countries define standard drinks differently. For example, in Australia, a standard drink contains 10 grams of alcohol,[4] but in Japan, one "unit" contains approximately 20 grams."
    - capitainenemo 5y ago
      But, ok, yeah, I'm sorry. I'd perked up and replied to parent because the "2 standard unit 20ml limit" as "safe" seems to show up in a bunch of studies, and interpreted "2 drinks" as that. But if he meant US standard drink that would be a 1.7*2 units (or 2 5% beer bottles), which is a bit harder to hit (but also firmly in unhealthy territory). That said, as another person noted, you can blow through that with a high ABV craft beer really easily (or an overly full glass of wine).
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
throwaway9191aa 5y ago
I was reading https://www.niaaa.nih.gov/alcohols-effects-health/overview-alcohol-consumption/what-standard-drink https://www.niaaa.nih.gov/alcohols-effects-health/overview-a..., which looks a little different than your chart, but the craft beer thing (imho) is dangerous (and I love craft beer). Most of the beers I like are 7.5%, except stouts which are 10-12%. They also come in large 16oz cans. Two of these is almost 4 drinks. "Craft beer enthusiast" can start to approach heavy drinker very quickly.
- shkkmo 5y ago
  Your numbers are off. Based on your link, a 12oz 5% beer is one drink so a 16oz 7.5% is 2 drinks (1.5 * 4/3) and thus two of those is exactly 4 drinks.
- capitainenemo 5y ago
  https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/alcohol-support/calculating-alcohol-units/ https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/alcohol-support/calculating-alc... Here was the reference I used. Small glass of red/white/rosé wine (125ml, ABV 12%) 1.5 units Bottle of lager/beer/cider (330ml, ABV 5%) 1.7 units
  - capitainenemo 5y ago
    Oh, and wow. 16oz = 473ml (had to look that up) 473ml*0.12 = 57ml of alcohol (!) - so almost 6 10ml units in a single can??? so two of those 12% stouts would be 11.4 units! Ouch... Yeah. Maybe switch to one of them as a special treat once in a while. :)
- Symbiote 5y ago
  16oz = 473mL. Now that's out of the way… I often socialize with a Belgian guy, and he will choose similarly strong Belgian beers, but will almost always split the bottle with someone else. I think that can would probably be split three ways — it is equivalent to 2½ to 3 reasonable glasses of wine. Sometimes that means drinking less, but it might also mean each person tries a wider selection of beers. (A deleted comment asked for a "European" view, and I should make clear this is not a unified European view. That's impossible, as drinking culture varies massively between countries, by drink, culture, law and tax.)

whimsicalism 5y ago

A measuring cup of wine is obviously more than a standard drink.

capitainenemo 5y ago
It's a very large glass of wine, yes. That said, I've been in restaurants with large wine glasses that generously fill them. I guess if you're paying by the bottle who cares. Ensures more consumption? And, was more noting how people could deceive themselves. I just fetched one of the large wine glasses from the kitchen. Filled but well below the rim (maybe a couple of cm below) it was 2 cups of water (so 6 units!) - I emptied out the water and filled it with 1 cup of water (so well over the 2 units) the glass was less than half full. Visually looked about a third of the way up the glass due to the curve.
Symbiote 5y ago
In England, pubs usually sell "small", "medium" or "large" glasses of wine, which are 125mL, 150mL and 250mL. ([1] for good evidence for this, that you can buy measures for it. There's also a law [2].) But the comparisons in this discussion are all confused, as the first person wrote "US measuring cup" but used UK alcohol "units" (which are 10mL = 6g), but the US "standard drink" contains 11g = 18mL alcohol. UK units are nicer to calculate, as an example 150mL glass of 13% wine contains 150 × 13 ÷ 1000 → 1.95 "units" alcohol (19.5mL). But the US standard drink is probably nearer to what people actually consider one drink. The UK site shows that typical drinks are nearer 2-3 units [3]. [1] https://www.wineware.co.uk/professional-stainless-steel-thimble-bar-wine-measure-set-1x-125ml-1x-175ml-1x-250ml https://www.wineware.co.uk/professional-stainless-steel-thim... [2] https://www.gov.uk/weights-measures-and-packaging-the-law/specified-quantities https://www.gov.uk/weights-measures-and-packaging-the-law/sp... [3] https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/alcohol-support/calculating-alcohol-units/ https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/alcohol-support/calculating-alc...
- capitainenemo 5y ago
  Yeah, sorry, I was trying to use the "measuring cup" for familiar reference purposes. The 10 ml of alcohol measure in the UK (with 1-2 units being the "safe" range) definitely seems a lot clearer and easier to approximate if your drink has an ABV % to me than the "standard drink which is all over the place: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_drink https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_drink "For example, in the United States, a standard drink contains about 14 grams of alcohol." "Different countries define standard drinks differently. For example, in Australia, a standard drink contains 10 grams of alcohol,[4] but in Japan, one "unit" contains approximately 20 grams."
  - capitainenemo 5y ago
    But, ok, yeah, I'm sorry. I'd perked up and replied to parent because the "2 standard unit 20ml limit" as "safe" seems to show up in a bunch of studies, and interpreted "2 drinks" as that. But if he meant US standard drink that would be a 1.7*2 units (or 2 5% beer bottles), which is a bit harder to hit (but also firmly in unhealthy territory). That said, as another person noted, you can blow through that with a high ABV craft beer really easily (or an overly full glass of wine).
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]

throwaway9191aa 5y ago

I was reading https://www.niaaa.nih.gov/alcohols-effects-health/overview-alcohol-consumption/what-standard-drink https://www.niaaa.nih.gov/alcohols-effects-health/overview-a..., which looks a little different than your chart, but the craft beer thing (imho) is dangerous (and I love craft beer). Most of the beers I like are 7.5%, except stouts which are 10-12%. They also come in large 16oz cans. Two of these is almost 4 drinks. "Craft beer enthusiast" can start to approach heavy drinker very quickly.

shkkmo 5y ago
Your numbers are off. Based on your link, a 12oz 5% beer is one drink so a 16oz 7.5% is 2 drinks (1.5 * 4/3) and thus two of those is exactly 4 drinks.
capitainenemo 5y ago
https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/alcohol-support/calculating-alcohol-units/ https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/alcohol-support/calculating-alc... Here was the reference I used. Small glass of red/white/rosé wine (125ml, ABV 12%) 1.5 units Bottle of lager/beer/cider (330ml, ABV 5%) 1.7 units
- capitainenemo 5y ago
  Oh, and wow. 16oz = 473ml (had to look that up) 473ml*0.12 = 57ml of alcohol (!) - so almost 6 10ml units in a single can??? so two of those 12% stouts would be 11.4 units! Ouch... Yeah. Maybe switch to one of them as a special treat once in a while. :)
Symbiote 5y ago
16oz = 473mL. Now that's out of the way… I often socialize with a Belgian guy, and he will choose similarly strong Belgian beers, but will almost always split the bottle with someone else. I think that can would probably be split three ways — it is equivalent to 2½ to 3 reasonable glasses of wine. Sometimes that means drinking less, but it might also mean each person tries a wider selection of beers. (A deleted comment asked for a "European" view, and I should make clear this is not a unified European view. That's impossible, as drinking culture varies massively between countries, by drink, culture, law and tax.)