A standard drink in the United States contains 0.6 fluid ounces of pure alcohol. That number holds whether you’re drinking beer, wine, or spirits. The difference is how much liquid you need to drink to reach that 0.6 ounces, since each type of beverage has a different alcohol concentration.
What 0.6 Ounces Looks Like by Beverage
Because beer, wine, and liquor have very different alcohol concentrations, the serving sizes that deliver 0.6 fluid ounces of pure alcohol look quite different from one another:
- Beer (about 5% ABV): 12 fluid ounces, a standard can or bottle
- Wine (about 12% ABV): 5 fluid ounces, roughly half a typical wine glass
- Distilled spirits (40% ABV / 80 proof): 1.5 fluid ounces, a standard shot
Each of these contains the same amount of actual alcohol. A 12-ounce beer and a 1.5-ounce shot of vodka are equivalent in terms of how much ethanol your body has to process.
How to Calculate It Yourself
You can figure out the pure alcohol in any drink with a simple formula: multiply the volume of the beverage (in ounces) by its alcohol percentage, expressed as a decimal. A 12-ounce beer at 5% ABV gives you 12 × 0.05 = 0.6 ounces of pure alcohol. A 5-ounce glass of wine at 12% gives you 5 × 0.12 = 0.6 ounces. A 1.5-ounce shot at 40% gives you 1.5 × 0.40 = 0.6 ounces.
This formula becomes especially useful when drinks don’t match standard assumptions. A craft IPA at 7.5% ABV in a 16-ounce pint glass contains 1.2 ounces of pure alcohol, double a standard drink. A 9-ounce wine pour at 14% ABV delivers 1.26 ounces, more than two standard drinks in a single glass.
Why Real-World Pours Rarely Match
The standard drink is a measurement tool, not a reflection of what actually ends up in your glass. Restaurant wine pours commonly range from 5 to 6 ounces, with some places offering 9-ounce pours or the so-called “country club pour” of about 8.5 ounces (three glasses per bottle). A 6-ounce pour of wine at 14% ABV contains 0.84 ounces of pure alcohol, roughly 1.4 standard drinks.
Spirits present a similar issue. Many cocktails contain two or more shots, and bartenders often free-pour rather than measure precisely. A strong cocktail with 3 ounces of 80-proof liquor contains 1.2 ounces of pure alcohol, the equivalent of two standard drinks. Beer has drifted too. Many popular craft beers run 6 to 9% ABV, and they’re often served in pint glasses (16 ounces) rather than 12-ounce portions. A 16-ounce pint of 8% beer contains 1.28 ounces of alcohol, more than two standard drinks.
How Your Body Processes That Alcohol
Your liver clears alcohol from your bloodstream at a relatively fixed rate, roughly one standard drink per hour for most people. That rate varies somewhat based on body size, sex, genetics, and whether you’ve eaten, but it doesn’t speed up if you drink more. Consuming three drinks in an hour means your body still has about two drinks’ worth of alcohol to process after the first 60 minutes.
This is why the 0.6-ounce figure matters beyond trivia. If you’re trying to pace yourself, knowing that your large glass of wine counts as 1.5 or 2 standard drinks changes the math on how long your body needs to catch up.
Moderate Drinking Guidelines
The U.S. Dietary Guidelines define moderate drinking as up to 2 standard drinks per day for men and 1 for women. Those limits are based on the 0.6-ounce standard, so they assume 12 ounces of regular beer, 5 ounces of wine, or 1.5 ounces of spirits per drink. If your actual pours are larger or your beverages are stronger, you may be consuming more standard drinks than you realize.
Counting drinks by the glass or the can can be misleading. Counting by the 0.6-ounce unit of pure alcohol gives you a more accurate picture of your actual intake.