bemyself

This is possibly the oddest question in all of SR's history....but as I live in Aus, we understand quantities of alcohol that people talk about in metric units. e.g. one bottle of wine = 750 ml. n

As I've never really been a drinker of other stuff, beers, let alone hard spirits, and as most alcoholics here tell their stories using different measures (e.g. half a fifth of vodka, etc), I can't quite grasp or visualise the types of quantities they mean.

I can 'get' all the other stuff - emotional impacts, etc etc, but without that frame of reference of just how heavily person X or Y was / is drinking.

Any conversion nerds out there who'd care to provide a little conversion table or something, please do!

Thanks!

Taking5

A fifth is a fifth of a gallon, approximately 750 ml. A handle is our big bottle of liquor, 1.75 liters.

LucilleBluth

Thanks for asking - I never knew what a 5th was either. For some reason I was thinking that a 5th was equivalent to what we refer to in Canada as a Mickey (which is 12 oz) but now I realize a 5th is what we call a 26er (26 oz).

DoubleBarrel

So when somebody says units, what do they mean? mL?

bemyself

Thanks for those who've replied.

DB, good question - from what I understand, 'units' of alcohol vary a little from country to country, depending on their government's classification.

e.g. in Australia, from memory (not having looked up the latest health department stuff on this), one unit of say, wine, is 100 or 120 ml (millilitres).

I vaguely recall from years ago, when I was attempting 'formal' moderation at one time, that Moderation Management (they have a website and a book), provided quite detailed tables somewhere of BAC levels from X numbers of units of alcohol of different types. But I also vaguely recall that those units were equivalent to the American imperial measures of amounts. V helpful for you Americans and Canadians, but hard work for us UK / Aussie etc people.

The point is, 'units' as per various health policies (for harm minimisation, DUI policing, rehab intake assessment, etc are quite different for what TYPE of alcohol is being measured. Wine, beer, whiskey, vodka, etc.

LucilleBluth

Bemyself - we use metric in Canada too, but we used to use imperial so the "slang" is still there. I think what the US calls handles, we call 40 pounders (40 oz). Our bottles are measured in ml and litres.

I think units refer to amount of alcohol, such as one shot of spirits (1 oz), 5 oz of wine, 1 bottle of beer - they are all equivalent. That way people cannot say stuff like - well, I only drink beer. 1 beer is the same as one shot of spirits in terms of alcohol content.

Dee74

• USA: Government standard is 14 grams of alcohol per drink, but studies report drinks ranging from 9.3 to 13.2 grams of alcohol per drink.
• Canada: One study reports 13.6 grams of alcohol per drink.
• UK: Government standard is 8 grams of alcohol per drink, but studies report drinks ranging from 8 to 10 grams of alcohol per drink.
• Rest of Europe: Studies report a range of alcohol contents per drink from 8.7 to 11 grams.
• Australia and NZ: Government standard is 10 grams of alcohol per drink, but studies report a range of alcohol contents per drink from 6 to 11 grams.
• Japan: Studies report a range of alcohol contents per drink from 21.2 to 28 grams.

Part of the reason for the great variation is based on cultural factors -- standard drinks reflect what is considered normal or typical in that country.


One Drink - How Much Alcohol is in One Drink

Aussie standards:
Alcohol - Standard drinks guide