How much do you drink? Is that so bad?

[the_bird]

Ok i will speak on for the other 3/4 who are toooooooo ashamed to speak up. I want to hear a little from the Boozing people out there so i dont feel so bad. AM I the only one who drinks 7+ beers on occasion?

Big difference between "on occassion" and "regularly." I probably average about 6-8 pints a week, but there are lots of nights (and sometimes whole weeks) when I drink nothing and think nothing of it.

The rule I set for myself a long time ago was that if I feel crappy, I ain't drinking. Drinking magnifies my mood; I'm a silly, happy **** when I'm drunk and was already enjoying myself, but I don't want to magnify things when I'm down.

As with BM's answer, it helps keeping lower ABV stuff around, too. Small/medium beers in the kegerator right now, it was real nice to be able to hit the kegs pretty hard at last weekend's party and never be in danger of falling down the stairs, or making too much of a fool of myself other than singing along to the Pogues.

 

[Fingers]

You know though again, it all goes back to if your drinking 4 IIPA's a night or 4 3.5-4% beers a night, or such. I love me a nice beer after a long day to help me just relax and enjoy life. 16 oz of 5% is 0.8 oz of alcohol so it's less than a regular shot (a shot is 1 oz right?) and spread over a time period of 15 to 20 minutes (or so...unless it's a Wit, I saw on TV you're supposed to drink it in three sips, you know for your health, or so the owner of Hoegaarden says :fro it makes a huge difference.

Except 5% alcohol beer has 0.8 oz of 100% alcohol and a bar shot is typically 40%. I think your 16 oz 5% beer has the equivalent of 2oz of bar liquor.

Me, I drink too much. I'll have from two to five a night. The weekends aren't any different, but like many here I brew low ABV beers. I like them in the 3.5% to 4% range.

 

[Rick500]

3 - 6 pints on the weekend depending on if it's one or two days. Weekdays, usually none, maybe one if I go out to eat, but not more than once a week.

 

[BrewBrain]

1 beer probably 3 out of 5 week nights, maybe 4 beers total over a weekend.

I'm a lightweight though. I can't taste the third one anyway, so why bother?

 

[arturo7]

I don't need a test to tell me I drink too much.

When alone I rarely drink. In the company of others I'm capable of 2-3 benders a month.

 

[z987k]

Ok i will speak on for the other 3/4 who are toooooooo ashamed to speak up. I want to hear a little from the Boozing people out there so i dont feel so bad. AM I the only one who drinks 7+ beers on occasion?

It happens on occasion for me. Especially if it's brew day. We'll start brewing around 3pm and finish at around 7ish, but be drinking the whole time. Then go get something to eat and drink some more and then head out to the bars cause it's Saturday night. And have the 8 or so there. It's like a marathon though you just have to pace yourself.

 

[dirtymike1]

Ok i will speak on for the other 3/4 who are toooooooo ashamed to speak up. I want to hear a little from the Boozing people out there so i dont feel so bad. AM I the only one who drinks 7+ beers on occasion?

I will tell you that I can throw down hard, but I try not to do that much. I have a bad tendency to become a huge ass when I get hammered. It's mainly because I imbaressed the hell out of myself and my girl one night right after we started seeing each other. But that's a whole thread to itself

I have my 1-2 a night, and if I'm out on a weekend then I will have much more. I am perfectly capable of downing 8+ in a night, but thats over 6 or more hours, and lots of time standing in front of a grill

 

[TexLaw]

I rarely drink during the week, and that is usually only when I go out to meet some friends. Even that only happens once or twice a month, on average.

Weekends are a whole different story, though, as they vary all over the place. I may go all day with nothing, I may have a few drinks, or I may have a day where I drink several beers, half a bottle of wine, a couple double-shot margaritas, and whatever else suits my fancy. Usually, the heavy days are over a 10+ hour period, though, so my buzz does not tend to get too thick.


TL

 

[Desert_Sky]

Hey this is kind of good to help one gauge:

http://www.alcoholscreening.org/index.asp

Based on Your Responses:
Your results do not suggest that a pattern of excess drinking is harming your health. However, the amount you reported consuming on at least one occasion may increase your risk for injury or other immediate consequences. This risk is associated with having more than 3 drinks per occasion if you are a woman or someone over 65, or 4 drinks per occasion if you are a man age 65 or younger.

Recommended Action:
Consider setting a safer personal limit for how much alcohol you consume on one occasion. For some people and in certain situations, no amount of alcohol is safe. Follow the link below to learn more about wise consumption limits, when it's not safe to drink at all, and the kinds of problems that excess alcohol can cause. This information will help you make informed health decisions about alcohol.

Whatever.....

If I had the time I would drink more becasue....well I love spending the afternoon drinking beer. I DONT NEED NO STINKIN LIMITS

They dont take into consideration Im 6'6" 255lbs. I can drink a 8 or 9 beers and still be relatively ok. Maybe Im just in denial.....thats the first sign isnt it?


Cheers

 

[Slappy White]

Yeah, this test really shouldn't be taken seriously. Shouldn't it take in to account how big a person is and even the tolerance of the person. I know I feel about the same with 6 12oz. 5% beers as some of my friends feel drinking half that. Just saying....

 

[blacklab]

If you have to ask the question...the answer is yes.

 

[Evan!]

If you have to ask the question...the answer is yes.

I don't buy that. Prohibition still haunts the collective consciousness of this nation. The devil's elixir still has a big taboo attached to it---hell, you should see the jackbooted thugs at the Alcoholic Beverage Control board here in VA! It's treated as though it's evil---and this permeates the judgment and the consciousness of otherwise responsible people, who may then be driven to unnecessarily ponder if they are drinking "too much".

I'd say, if it's affecting your life negatively, if you drink to deal with your problems, and if you can't stop, then the answer is probably YES. But just because our silly cultural boogeymen cause people to unnecessarily question their actions doesn't mean that that answer is necessarily "yes".

 

[dirtymike1]

If you think about it, the average Russian male drinks enough to be considered an heavy alcholic here in america. I had a guy in my office when I first started here that could easily drink a liter of vodka a night, because thats what he grew up doing. The man was always early to work, and never looked or acted out of line.

Also when I was younger I lived in Germany for 2 years. Every day at lunch, which over there was a 2-3 hour break, everyone would have a few beers or wine with there meal. The way we look at drinking here in America is very different then any other place in the world

 

[mrkristofo]

The British Journal of Medicine published an article a while back with recommended alcohol intake limits, above which you'd start to get liver damage. It does not take dependency or addiction in to account.

The BJM recommends a maximum number of 28 units per week for a man, and 21 units for a woman, no more than 7 units in a sitting. That's the maximum. The "sensible" recommendation is no more than 21 units per week and 4 units per sitting. So what is a unit? A unit is defined as 6 US fluid ounces of alcohol at 5.5% ABV. So one beer at 5.5% is 2 units. By your numbers, you're drinking around 10 units per night, or 70 units per week. And that's assuming no 5.5%. If I were you, I would cut your consumption in half, at least.

I'm currently around 1-3 beers per day (2-6 units), usually some more on weekends. I try to stay within the limit of 28 units, but it can be difficult. It will be moreso when I get my kegs set up in a week or so, but I am going to adhere to it, tough as it might be. We all have a lot of life ahead of us, and a lot of beers to brew. Liver damage will destroy your enjoyment of beer forever, as will alcoholism. The latter runs strongly in my family so I really try hard to keep everything in check.

Self-restraint, in my opinion, is the toughest part of being a homebrewer.

EDIT: There's another post about this from a few months ago (I want to say November '07-ish) where we discussed, in great detail, the difference between dependence and abuse as well.

 

[mrkristofo]

They dont take into consideration Im 6'6" 255lbs. I can drink a 8 or 9 beers and still be relatively ok.

Keep in mind that your body size only matters with how drunk you can get off a certain number of beers. It doesn't mean your liver is any more efficient at metabolizing it, just that there's more tissue for the alcohol to diffuse into. Your liver still has to break all of that down, and is damaged just as much as mine (I'm 6'1", 160lbs) after 8 or 9 beers.