Alcohol Units Calculator

Use this tool to compare drink quantities under the UK unit definition. One UK unit is 10 mL of pure alcohol. It reports both UK units and pure-alcohol volume; neither result estimates blood alcohol concentration or impairment.

What to enter

Enter the amount actually served in milliliters and the ABV printed on the label. The starting example is 568 mL at 5% ABV, a common pint-sized volume. Volume must be above 0 and no more than 5,000 mL; ABV must be above 0 and no more than 100%.

For a partly consumed container, use the consumed volume rather than the package volume. For multiple identical servings, either total their milliliters first or calculate one serving and multiply the unrounded unit result.

Method and worked comparison

The two quantities are found independently:

$\text{UK units}=\frac{\text{volume mL}\times\text{ABV percent}}{1000}$ $\text{pure alcohol mL}=\frac{\text{volume mL}\times\text{ABV percent}}{100}$

For 568 mL at 5% ABV:

$568\times5/1000=2.84\text{ units}$ $568\times5/100=28.4\text{ mL pure alcohol}$

The shown results are 2.8 UK units and 28 mL after presentation rounding. A 175 mL serving at 13% gives 2.275 units and 22.75 mL before rounding, shown as 2.3 units and 23 mL. Use the unrounded arithmetic when totaling several drinks so small rounding differences do not accumulate.

Drink-comparison checklist

• Confirm that every serving uses milliliters and label ABV, not proof.
• Separate drinks with different ABVs rather than averaging labels casually.
• Include top-ups and refills in the consumed volume.
• Compare definitions before using a result elsewhere: a UK unit is not a US standard drink.

For the next drink, repeat the calculation with that serving’s own volume and ABV. Keep the unrounded unit amounts in your record before adding them; do not convert the total into an impairment or dietary estimate.

Limits that matter

The same unit total can affect people differently. This arithmetic does not account for timing, food, medicines, body characteristics, or individual metabolism. It cannot tell whether someone is impaired or when driving is safe. Do not use the result for those decisions.

For other intake-totaling arithmetic, see the caffeine intake total calculator and the water intake calculator; for food rather than drink labels, the meal calorie calculator totals calories per serving.

Sources

• NHS, Calculating alcohol units — UK definition and formula.
• NIAAA, What is a standard drink? — US standard-drink definition for unit-system comparison only.