How do you calculate alcohol units?

Strength (ABV) × volume in millilitres ÷ 1,000. A 175 ml glass of 12% wine is 12 × 175 ÷ 1,000 = 2.1 units; a 568 ml pint of 4% lager is 2.3 units; a 25 ml shot of 40% spirit is 1 unit. Enter the size and ABV and the page shows the multiplication.

How many units are in a bottle of wine?

About 10 for a 750 ml bottle at 13.5% (the NHS example), 9 at 12% and 11.25 at 15%. A 175 ml glass is 2.1–2.6 units; a 250 ml glass 3–3.75.

What is a US standard drink and how does it compare to a UK unit?

14 grams of pure alcohol — a 12 oz beer at 5%, a 5 oz glass of wine at 12% or a 1.5 oz shot at 40%. That is 17.7 ml of alcohol, so one US standard drink is about 1.75 UK units. Switch the standard above and both figures are shown.

How many units a week is safe?

The NHS advises both men and women not to regularly drink more than 14 units a week, spread over three or more days, and calls that low risk rather than safe. The page shows each drink as a percentage of that 14.

Alcohol Units Calculator (UK Units and US Standard Drinks)

Units or standard drinks in any drink from its volume and ABV, with grams of alcohol and the share of the weekly guideline.

Inputs

Drink volume(mL)

1 mL5,000 mL

ABV(%)

0.1 %100 %

Standard

Include CalculateEveryday mark

UK units

1.65

Working: 5% × 330 mL ÷ 1,000 = 1.65 units
Pure alcohol: 13.2 g (16.5 mL)
In US standard drinks (14 g): 0.93
Share of the 14-unit weekly guideline: 12%
Volume: 330 mL at 5% ABV

UK/NHS unit: 10 mL (about 8 g) of pure alcohol per unit.

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What each Alcohol Units input means

Drink volume: How much you are drinking, in mL — or fl oz in US units. A UK pint is 568 mL; a US can 12 fl oz.
ABV: Alcohol by volume, the % on the label: around 4–5% for beer, 12–14% for wine, 40% for most spirits.
Standard: Metric gives UK units (10 mL of alcohol each); US units give US standard drinks (14 g each). Both are shown either way.

Alcohol Units formula

UK units = ABV% × volume (mL) ÷ 1,000 · pure alcohol (mL) = volume × ABV ÷ 100 · grams = mL × 0.789 · US standard drinks = grams ÷ 14

\text{units} = \frac{\text{ABV} \times V_{\text{mL}}}{1000} \qquad \text{drinks}_{\text{US}} = \frac{V_{\text{mL}} \times \text{ABV}/100 \times 0.789}{14}

How much alcohol is in a drink depends on its size and its strength, not on what it is. Multiply the volume by the ABV to get the millilitres of pure alcohol; a UK unit is 10 ml of that, so the NHS formula is strength × volume ÷ 1,000 — a 330 ml can at 5% is 1.65 units. The US counts in standard drinks of 14 grams (0.6 fl oz) of pure alcohol, which is 17.7 ml, so a US standard drink is about 1.75 UK units; the page converts the millilitres to grams at ethanol's density of 0.789 g/ml. Whichever standard you pick, the other is shown too, along with what the drink is as a share of the NHS's 14-units-a-week guideline.

Alcohol Units worked example

A 330 ml can of 5% beer: 5 × 330 ÷ 1,000 = 1.65 units. That is 16.5 ml of pure alcohol, or 13.2 g — 0.93 of a US standard drink, and 12% of the 14-unit weekly guideline. The NHS's own example, a 750 ml bottle of 13.5% wine, is 13.5 × 750 ÷ 1,000 = 10.1 units, nearly three-quarters of the week's guideline in one bottle.

More Alcohol Units examples

A 175 mL glass of 13% wine: 13 × 175 ÷ 1,000 = 2.27 UK units — 18 g of alcohol, 1.28 US standard drinks, and 16% of the weekly 14-unit guideline.

A 12 fl oz can of 5% beer: 0.6 fl oz of alcohol, which is 14 g — exactly 1.00 US standard drink, the NIAAA's reference beer, and 1.77 UK units.

Where the Alcohol Units calculator can give the wrong answer

The ABV on the label is the number to use, and it varies more than people assume: beers run from 3.4% to over 8%, wines from 9% to 15%, and a 'large' pub glass of wine is 250 ml, not 175.
Cocktails and home pours are guesses. A 'double' at home is often 50–70 ml rather than the pub's 50; measure the spirit rather than the glass.
Units and standard drinks say nothing about how drunk a given person becomes — body weight, sex, food, speed of drinking and tolerance all matter. Blood alcohol is a different calculation.
The 14-unit figure is the UK's weekly low-risk guideline for both men and women, spread over three or more days. Other countries set different limits; the US Dietary Guidelines phrase theirs per day (up to 2 drinks for men, 1 for women), not per week.
Grams are calculated at 0.789 g/ml for ethanol; the NHS's 8 g per unit is that figure rounded.

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Alcohol Units reference table

UK units and US standard drinks in common drinks
Drink	UK units	US standard drinks
Pint (568 mL) of 4% beer	2.27	1.30
Pint of 5.2% lager	2.95	1.69
330 mL bottle of 5% beer	1.65	0.94
175 mL glass of 12% wine	2.1	1.2
250 mL glass of 12% wine	3	1.71
750 mL bottle of 13.5% wine	10.1	5.79
25 mL single of 40% spirit	1	0.57
35 mL measure of 40% spirit	1.4	0.8

Source: NHS, 'Alcohol units' (units = ABV × mL ÷ 1,000); NIAAA, 'What Is a Standard Drink?' (14 g of alcohol; 1 UK unit is 8 g)

Alcohol Units FAQ

: Strength (ABV) × volume in millilitres ÷ 1,000. A 175 ml glass of 12% wine is 12 × 175 ÷ 1,000 = 2.1 units; a 568 ml pint of 4% lager is 2.3 units; a 25 ml shot of 40% spirit is 1 unit. Enter the size and ABV and the page shows the multiplication.
: About 10 for a 750 ml bottle at 13.5% (the NHS example), 9 at 12% and 11.25 at 15%. A 175 ml glass is 2.1–2.6 units; a 250 ml glass 3–3.75.
: 14 grams of pure alcohol — a 12 oz beer at 5%, a 5 oz glass of wine at 12% or a 1.5 oz shot at 40%. That is 17.7 ml of alcohol, so one US standard drink is about 1.75 UK units. Switch the standard above and both figures are shown.
: The NHS advises both men and women not to regularly drink more than 14 units a week, spread over three or more days, and calls that low risk rather than safe. The page shows each drink as a percentage of that 14.