How Many Ounces Count As Drinking One Beer?

When someone says they are only having one beer, what exactly does that mean? A single beer comes in many forms. A pint is 16 fluid ounces if you are having one in the United States, while guzzling one in the UK means drinking 20 ounces. A tallboy, the cans that look like skyscrapers, contains 19.2 ounces, and a crowler is 32 ounces. They are all different. That's why it's important to think about this drink from a different perspective. A 12-ounce bottle of beer at 5% alcohol by volume (ABV) is considered one standard alcoholic drink; however, if you double that ABV to 10% and keep the same amount of ounces, you are drinking two beers.

The key takeaway: ABV matters if you want to drink responsibly — and you want to. So, why do we have standard alcoholic drink measurements, and what exactly does this ABV acronym share with a consumer?  Standard alcoholic drink measurements serve as a guide for how much alcohol your liver can metabolize and process within an hour. ABV is the percentage by volume of the liquid in what you are sipping or chugging that is actually alcohol. ABV is calculated through a two-step process. First, the amount of sugar that is present is measured when yeast is introduced, and the fermentation of beer begins. It is measured again at the end of this process. 

If you want just one beer, knowing how to decode different types of beer can come in handy. Different types of beer also have different ABV, so you may need to do a little homework to help you figure out what your "one" beer looks like. For example, if you are a fan of Belgian beers like Tripels or blondes, they can have an ABV that ranges between 8% and 10%, while an Imperial stout can be as high as 12%, and a German Eisbock can be 14% or higher. So, if you are going to drink a beer with a higher ABV, you will want to adjust the amount or plan on sipping on it for a couple of hours.

Of course, if you are getting a glass of beer at a bar, it is important to remember that there is no standardized glass used by every bar.  So, you either need to be really good at eyeballing or ask. Additionally, if you are traveling to a foreign country, a standard beer serving can vary as well, depending on the glass used. In Australia, the schooner is a standard beer vessel, and it can hold about 14 ounces, while a classic German stein holds 33.8 ounces. It's also important to note that every country doesn't necessarily agree on how much alcohol is in a standard serving, either.