This is a conservative figure given that abstainers are not excluded and represent about 20% of the adult population. This suggests that on average approximately 21 standard drinks are consumed each week by every adult aged 15 years and over. However, when those low risk drinking guidelines are translated into Irish standard drinks (10 grams), the Irish low risk weekly guidelines should be 11 standard drinks for women and 17 standard drinks for men. To provide a general estimate of the average number of standard drinks consumed in Ireland, the per capita figures for 2006 were utilised.

Two of the most popular serving sizes, a pint of beer and a quarter bottle of wine, are often mistakenly regarded as a standard drink where in fact they are equivalent to two standard drinks each. As a general guide for low-risk drinking, the recommended upper weekly limit used in Ireland is based on the UK unit – 14 units for women and 21 units for men. This involved multiplying the serving size of the drink (millilitres) by the alcohol content (% ABV) of the drink and dividing by 1.25 (1 ml=1.25 g) to establish the grams of pure alcohol in that specific drink (Table 1).

To establish the standard drink in Ireland, the first step was to calculate the amount of pure alcohol in each of the alcoholic beverages. It is therefore not appropriate to use the UK unit measure when describing a standard drink in Ireland. Although the UK unit was used in Ireland, it did not reflect the typical strength or serving measure of drinks sold in Ireland, where a single measure of spirits is larger, at 1/4 gill. A ‘UK unit of alcohol’ is found in a half pint of beer (3.5% ABV) or a small glass of wine (100 ml) or a single measure of spirits (1/6 gill) and equals 8 grams of pure alcohol. The measure used was called a ‘unit of alcohol’ and related to the most common drinks and alcohol content of drinks served in the UK. The purpose was to help scientists and health professionals in the clinical setting estimate alcohol consumption for comparative purposes. The UK unit was devised in the early 1970s as a simple method to calculate the alcoholic strength in different drinks. Part of the confusion stems from the use of the ‘UK unit’, which is inappropriate in the Irish context. The base of the calculation is the input field with the focus, will say the field where you entered the number or where you click.In Ireland, there is much confusion about what constitutes a typical or ‘standard drink’. You can also enter the alcohol content and calculate the corresponding sugar concentration. If you type the sugar content into one of the four stated units and click “Calculate” or press the enter key, the other units will be calculated, as well as the alcohol content. There are, depending on the application, several kinds of units to indicate the concentration of sugar or alcohol.

The yeast will have converted all of the sugar into alcohol after fermentation has finished (mash for distilling fruit spirits), thus there is NO sugar left! Another term for sugar or alcohol content is sugar or alcohol concentration. Due to empirical data, it is possible to foresee the moonshine alcohol content of sugar-containing liquids after fermentation (sugar alcohol conversion), e.g., grape juice, unfermented mash, honey dissolved in water, sugar water, etc. The process of fermentation turns sugar into alcohol.įor home distilling you need an alcoholic liquid, e.g., a fermented mash.

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