Standard Drink Calculator
A U.S. standard drink contains 0.6 fluid ounces — 14 grams — of pure alcohol. Enter what you actually pour and see how many standard drinks it is, then compare your daily and weekly totals against NIAAA’s published thresholds.
- Published sources, named on the page
- Method and formula shown
- Limits stated with the result
One U.S. standard drink is any beverage containing 0.6 fluid ounces — about 14 grams — of pure alcohol: roughly 12 fl oz of 5% beer, 5 fl oz of 12% wine, or 1.5 fl oz of 80-proof spirits. To convert any pour, multiply the volume in fluid ounces by the alcohol percentage and divide by 0.6.
1.00standard drinks
Counted using NIAAA's 0.6 fl oz definition
- Pure alcohol in the glass
- 14.0 g
- 12 fl oz × 5% ÷ 0.6
- Reference
- Regular beer
- NIAAA drink equivalent: 12 fl oz at about 5% alc/vol.
Your Weekly Total
NIAAA’s daily heavy-drinking threshold for men is more than 4. Timing matters too — the same number consumed quickly raises blood alcohol far higher.
NIAAA’s weekly threshold for men is more than 14. Crossing it indicates increased risk over time — it is not a diagnosis.
These thresholds describe risk at a population level and cannot tell you whether your drinking is safe for you personally. They do not apply at all to people who should avoid alcohol entirely, including during pregnancy, with certain medications, with liver disease, or in recovery from alcohol use disorder.
What Common Containers Actually Contain
Each row is converted with the same NIAAA arithmetic the calculator uses. The alc/vol shown is a stated assumption, not a measured product value — read the label where one is available.
| Container | Size | Alc/vol | Standard drinks | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Can of regular beer | 12 fl oz | 5% | 1.0 | NIAAA's drink equivalent for regular beer. |
| Tallboy | 16 fl oz | 5% | 1.3 | Same beer, a third more of it. |
| Pint of craft IPA | 16 fl oz | 7.5% | 2.0 | Stronger and larger — two standard drinks in one glass. |
| 22 oz bomber, double IPA | 22 fl oz | 8.5% | 3.1 | A single bottle above most people's estimate. |
| Hard seltzer | 12 fl oz | 5% | 1.0 | Matches a regular beer at the same alc/vol. |
| Standard wine pour | 5 fl oz | 12% | 1.0 | NIAAA's drink equivalent for table wine. |
| Restaurant wine pour | 9 fl oz | 13% | 1.9 | Generous pours are common and often counted as one glass. |
| 750 ml bottle of wine | 25.4 fl oz | 12% | 5.1 | Shared between two people, that is still more than two each. |
| Shot of 80-proof spirits | 1.5 fl oz | 40% | 1.0 | NIAAA's drink equivalent for distilled spirits. |
| Double pour of spirits | 3 fl oz | 40% | 2.0 | Mixed drinks frequently contain more than 1.5 fl oz. |
| 750 ml bottle of spirits | 25.4 fl oz | 40% | 16.9 | Roughly seventeen standard drinks in one bottle. |
Why the Pour Matters More Than the Glass
The standard drink exists so that a beer, a glass of wine, and a shot can be compared on one scale: each equals 0.6 fluid ounces of pure alcohol. What breaks the comparison is real-world serving sizes. A 16-ounce pour of a 7.5% IPA is two standard drinks. A pint of 9% double IPA is closer to two and a half. A restaurant wine pour is frequently 6 to 9 ounces rather than 5. People counting glasses rather than standard drinks routinely underestimate their intake.
NIAAA also cautions that alcohol by volume varies widely both within and across beverage types, so the equivalents above are a starting point for comparison, not a fixed value for every product on the shelf. Where a label lists alc/vol, use that number here.
What the Federal Thresholds Actually Say
NIAAA defines binge drinking as the pattern that brings blood alcohol concentration to 0.08% or higher — typically about 4 drinks for women or 5 for men in roughly two hours. Heavy drinking is defined by volume: more than 4 drinks on any day or more than 14 per week for men, and more than 3 on any day or more than 7 per week for women. These are risk markers used in clinical screening, not diagnostic criteria for alcohol use disorder.
If your total sits above those lines, the useful next question is not the number but the pattern around it — whether drinking is hard to stop once started, whether it takes more to get the same effect, and whether cutting back has been tried and has not held. And if stopping after regular heavy drinking has ever caused shaking, sweating, nausea, or confusion, that is a medical matter: alcohol withdrawal can become dangerous and should be supervised.
Standard Drinks: Frequently Asked Questions
What counts as one standard drink?
In the United States, one standard drink is any beverage containing 0.6 fluid ounces — about 14 grams — of pure alcohol. That works out to roughly 12 fluid ounces of regular beer at 5% alcohol, 5 fluid ounces of table wine at 12%, or 1.5 fluid ounces of 80-proof spirits at 40%.
How many standard drinks are in a craft beer or a large glass of wine?
Often more than one. A 16-ounce craft beer at 7.5% alcohol contains two standard drinks, and a generously poured 9-ounce glass of 13% wine is close to two. Because both the size and the strength vary, the only reliable method is to multiply the volume in fluid ounces by the alcohol percentage and divide by 0.6.
What is considered binge drinking?
NIAAA defines binge drinking as a pattern that brings blood alcohol concentration to 0.08% or higher, which typically corresponds to about 4 drinks for women or 5 drinks for men within roughly two hours.
How much alcohol per week is considered heavy drinking?
NIAAA defines heavy drinking for men as more than 4 drinks on any day or more than 14 per week, and for women as more than 3 drinks on any day or more than 7 per week. These are thresholds for increased risk, not a diagnosis.
Is it safe to just stop drinking if my weekly total is high?
Not always without medical input. After sustained heavy drinking, stopping abruptly can cause withdrawal that ranges from tremor and insomnia to seizures and delirium — alcohol is one of the few substances whose withdrawal can be fatal. Talk to a clinician or a detox program before quitting cold, especially if you have withdrawn before.
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