Standard Drinks

A critical aspect of moderate and responsible consumption is being mindful of how much alcohol is in each drink being consumed. In order to do so, it is helpful to understand the definition of a standard drink and how much alcohol is in each beverage container.

According to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, one standard drink or ‘drink equivalent’ contains 0.06 ounces of pure alcohol (ethanol). Examples of standard drinks include:

  • 1.5 fluid ounces of 80-proof distilled spirits (40% alcohol by volume, or ABV) such as rum, vodka, gin, or whiskey
  • 12 fluid ounces of regular beer (5% ABV)
  • 5 fluid ounces of wine (12 % ABV)

To learn more about how to calculate how many standard drinks are in a container, use the Standard Drink calculator.

How to Use the Calculator

Beer, wine, or distilled spirits – you only need 2 pieces of information to calculate how many standard drinks are in a container:

1) Volume (typically shown as ounces or mL)
2) Alcohol by volume (typically shown as % ABV or ‘proof’)

This works for canned cocktails and other ready-to-drink (RTD) beverages too, regardless of whether they are spirit-, wine-, or malt-based.

Drink Calculator

Volume (Amount)

Alcohol by Volume Tooltip Title
This is where the tooltip text will go. Adding text filler here to make the tooltip a bit longer to see what it looks like.

Standard drinks in this product



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