Standard drinks
Different drinks contain different amounts of alcohol. Check the labels on containers of beer, wine and spirits, you will notice that they state the concentration of alcohol as a percentage per 100 ml of volume (eg. 4.8% alcohol/volume for regular beer).
The concept of a 'standard drink' is a measure not of how much liquid has been consumed, but how much pure alcohol has entered the system. The National Health and Medical Research Council defines a standard drink as one which contains 10 grams of pure alcohol.
One standard drink (10 grams) =
- 1 x 285 ml pot of full strength beer (4.8%) or
- 1 x 375 ml can of mid strength beer (3.4%) or
- 1.6 pots of light strength beer (2.8%) or
- 5 pots of super light (0.9) or
- 1 x 100 ml glass of sparkling wine or
- 1 x 100 ml glass of red or white wine or
- 300 ml bottle of alcoholic soda or
- 1 x 60 ml glass of fortified wine (port, muscat or sherry) or
- One 30 ml nip of spirit
DON'T assume your glass holds one standard drink (eg. many wine glasses hold amounts greater than 100 mls).
Last reviewed 29 September 2010