Alcohol Units Calculator
Calculate the alcohol units in any drink. Wine, beer, spirits and cocktails. Includes UK weekly guidelines (14 units). Free alcohol units calculator.
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UK NHS Guidelines
UK NHS recommends no more than 14 units per week, spread over 3 or more days. Both men and women share this guideline. If you regularly drink as much as 14 units per week, it is best to spread your drinking evenly over 3 or more days.
Units in Common Drinks
| Drink | Volume | ABV | Units |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pint of lager | 568ml | 4% | 2.3 |
| Pint of strong lager | 568ml | 5.5% | 3.1 |
| Bottle of beer | 330ml | 5% | 1.7 |
| Small wine | 125ml | 13% | 1.6 |
| Medium wine | 175ml | 13% | 2.3 |
| Large wine | 250ml | 13% | 3.3 |
| Bottle of wine | 750ml | 13% | 9.8 |
| Champagne/Prosecco | 125ml | 12% | 1.5 |
| Single spirit | 25ml | 40% | 1.0 |
| Double spirit | 50ml | 40% | 2.0 |
| Pint of cider | 568ml | 4.5% | 2.6 |
| Alcopop | 275ml | 5% | 1.4 |
Units calculated as: (volume ml × ABV%) ÷ 1000. Values rounded to 1 decimal place.
How to use this tool
Add drinks to your session
Click any preset drink (pint of lager, glass of wine, single spirit, etc.) or enter a custom drink with volume and ABV%. Each drink is added to your running total.
Track your total units
The total units and the percentage of the weekly NHS guideline update as you add drinks. Remove any drink from the list with the × button.
Check the reference table
The units table below shows common drinks with their standard ABV and unit content — useful for planning before going out.
Tips
The alcohol content of wine has increased significantly over the past 20 years — many wines are now 14% ABV, not the 12% used in older guidelines.
Craft beers and IPAs frequently exceed 6–7% ABV, making a pint over 3 units — significantly more than a standard lager pint.
Alcohol-free drinks (under 0.5% ABV) are negligible in unit terms. Low-alcohol drinks (0.5–1.2% ABV) are roughly ¼ of a full-strength equivalent.
Eating food with alcohol significantly slows absorption into the bloodstream, reducing the peak blood alcohol level from the same number of drinks.
About this alcohol units calculator tool
A unit of alcohol is defined as 10ml (8g) of pure ethanol. This is the standard measure used by the NHS and UK health authorities. The formula for calculating units from any drink is straightforward: multiply the volume in millilitres by the ABV percentage, then divide by 1,000. A 250ml large glass of 14% wine contains (250 × 14) ÷ 1,000 = 3.5 units — more than some people realise.
The NHS recommends that both men and women drink no more than 14 units per week, spread over at least 3 days. This guideline, introduced in 2016, is lower than previous guidance and applies equally to both sexes (earlier guidance allowed men 21 units). The 14-unit limit equates to approximately 6 pints of 4% lager or 10 small glasses (125ml) of 13% wine per week.
Alcohol content in wine has increased considerably since the guidelines were first established. Most supermarket wines now range from 13–14.5% ABV, compared to 11–12% that was common in previous decades. A standard 175ml glass of 14% wine contains 2.45 units rather than the 1.9 units of a 12% equivalent. This means a bottle of modern wine often contains 10–11 units rather than the 8–9 units suggested in older references.
Craft beer has introduced similar complexity. While a standard lager pint at 4% is 2.3 units, many craft IPAs are 6–7% ABV, making the same pint 3.4–4 units. A night out drinking four craft pints at 6.5% ABV is 14.8 units — the entire weekly recommended maximum. Tracking units with a calculator like this one is the only reliable way to know what you are actually consuming.