Department of Veterans Affairs: The Right Mix: Standard Drinks Guide

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One drink isn't always one drink - different types of alcoholic drinks contain different amounts of alcohol and are sold or served in different sized glasses or containers. It is important that you know what a standard drink is when you are cutting down or trying to stick to a limit. All standard drinks have approximately 10 grams of pure alcohol - regardless of their volume. All alcoholic beverages, by law, state on the label the number of standard drinks in the container.

Below you will see the number of standard drinks found in typical serving containers.

425ml Schooner Full Strength Beer 4.9% ALC/VOL	285ml Middy/Pot Full Strength Beer 4.9% ALC/VOL	285ml Middy/Pot Low AlcoholBeer 2.7% ALC/VOL

1.5	1	0.5

375ml Full Strength Beer 4.9% ALC/VOL	375ml Full Strength Beer 4.9% ALC/VOL	170ml Average Serve of Sparkling Wine/Champagne 11.5% ALC/VOL

1.5	1.5	1.5

30ml Spirit Nip 40% ALC/VOL	100ml Standard Serve of Wine 12% ALC/VOL	60ml Port/Sherry 18% ALC/VOL

1	1	1

Now that you know what a standard drink is, find out how you line up against the drinking guidelines?

How risky is my drinking graph

Low-risk drinking means:

For Men	For Women
An average of no more than 4 standard drinks per day No more than 6 standard drinks on any one day And 1 - 2 alcohol-free days per week	An average of no more than 2 standard drinks per day No more than 4 standard drinks on any one day And 1 - 2 alcohol-free days per week

Remember, the effects of alcohol depend on your age; your body size; your level of fitness; the state of your liver and whether you are a man or a woman. Your reaction to alcohol also depends on what medicines you are taking and how recently you've eaten.

For more information click here to visit www.alcoholguidelines.gov.au