That's why it's important to know how much alcohol the drink contains. Pay attention because different types of beer, wine or liquor can contain very different amounts of alcohol, so you may have more than one standard drink. For example, a standard beer contains approximately 5% alcohol by volume (ABV), but some craft beers may have up to 12% ABV or more. Clearly, a 12% craft beer would have more than twice as much alcohol as a standard beer.
Therefore, it should be counted as several standard beverages. The ABV will tell you how many ounces of real alcohol are in the drink. For example, if a 12-ounce bottle of beer contains 5.0 percent alcohol, that means the bottle has 0.6 ounces of pure alcohol. A standard drink is 0.6 ounces of alcohol.
Standard beverages appear on many graphs that indicate how much you could drink before reaching legal limits. Although a conventional beer bottle usually consists of a standard drink, it can only be reached with half or three quarters of a bottle of craft beer or malt liquor. For example, “light beers” only have 2% to 4% alcohol, while “malt” liquors have between 6% and 8%. A standard beer, whether a lager or an ale, has between 4% and 6% ABV, although some beers have higher or lower alcohol concentrations.
These amounts depend on the percentage of alcohol by volume and many beers, wines and spirits do not follow this standard. For centuries, people have consumed ethanol-based beverages, such as beer and wine, to change the way they feel. Wineries ferment grapes to make wine, and breweries ferment barley, wheat, and other grains to make beer.
