Looking back, I can see that 95% of my drinking was such that I drank to get drunk. Early on, it would be weeks or even months between binges but the end result, the vast majority of time, was getting stupidly drunk and then being hungover. Sure, there have been times when I've just had one or two but if I'm being honest there was often a feeling of irritation that I wasn't drunk during those times. It almost felt pointless to drink just one or two.
As for stages? If at any stage it's creating problems in your life, then it's too much.