Did you know beer, wine and spirits all contain ethanol?

Whether you drink beer, wine or spirits, they all contain the same type of alcohol called ethanol. This is created when either fruits or grains are fermented to produce alcohol drinks. It’s the ethanol in these drinks that affects your mood and reactions – and ethanol affects you in the same way, regardless of what type of drink you choose.

Of course, different drinks have different concentrations of alcohol. This is generally expressed as the percentage of alcohol by volume or ABV. You‘ve probably noticed that bottles and cans often include the strength of the drink as ABV on the label. It’s the ABV that can help you be aware of how much alcohol is in your drink.

Factors such as your body size and weight, biological sex and age influence how you process alcohol and how drinking can therefore affect you ^(1-4). Most importantly, this also depends on how much you drink, which is determined by the concentration (ABV) of the drink you’ve chosen and how quickly you drink it. Whether this alcohol comes as beer, wine or spirits is less important.

Knowing the ABV of your drink is very useful and can help you choose your beverage and anticipate its effect on you.

Some governments use the terms ‘unit’ or ‘standard drink' to help measure drinking and provide health guidelines. A standard drink of any beverage – beer, wine or spirits – will always contain the same amount of ethanol in grams ⁽⁵⁾.

However, relating standard drinks to what you’re actually drinking can be complicated. For example, if someone tops your glass up before you’re finished, it may be hard to keep track of what you’ve consumed. Also, the size of your glass may not match up to the standard size for your drink. The best rule of thumb is to always be responsible, drink moderately, and avoid activities and situations in which drinking can put you at risk.

There are tools available that can help you translate what you are drinking into standard drinks.