# A Pint of Beer vs... **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 16, 2005, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-pint-of-beer-vs/290390 "2005-02-16T18:40:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![rjk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@rjk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjk)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-pint-of-beer-vs/290390/1 "2005-02-16T18:40:10Z")
… a pint of water. I had thought of the question before, and was reminded by [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=302618) on the diuretic effect of tea. Answers there say the effect varies quite a bit, depending partly on the tea’s content of caffeine and related chemicals, and partly on how well hydrated you are to start. I have the same question about beer. How much water do really gain or lose when we have a pint? Of course the answer will vary, as it does for tea, but is there a general range to be expected? ---
**Author:** ![audiobottle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc8723/32.png) [@audiobottle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/audiobottle)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-pint-of-beer-vs/290390/2 "2005-02-16T19:31:07Z")
According to [this](http://www.choice.com.au/viewarticleasonepage.aspx?id=102678&catId=100409&tid=100008&p=1), you lose about 10 ml of urine for every 1 ml (or 1 g according to another place) of pure alcohol. ---
**Author:** ![audiobottle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc8723/32.png) [@audiobottle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/audiobottle)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-pint-of-beer-vs/290390/3 "2005-02-16T19:35:05Z")
Ah, crap, I meant mL of course. This might be of interest to you too. It’s a pdf, but it’s from the WHO and around page 11 is where it talks about research done on dehydrating effects of water. Warning: it is a PDF (116kb) [Linkity](http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/dwq/en/nutwaterrequir.pdf) ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-pint-of-beer-vs/290390/4 "2005-02-16T19:49:04Z")
> [@audiobottle](#): > > According to [this](http://www.choice.com.au/viewarticleasonepage.aspx?id=102678&catId=100409&tid=100008&p=1), you lose about 10 ml of urine for every 1 ml (or 1 g according to another place) of pure alcohol. So according to that formula, drinking beer of less than 10% alcohol by volume won’t dehydrate you. So stay away from the barleywines and Sammiclaus and you’ll be fine! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![MikeS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MikeS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeS)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-pint-of-beer-vs/290390/5 "2005-02-16T19:53:49Z")
> [@audiobottle](#): > > According to [this](http://www.choice.com.au/viewarticleasonepage.aspx?id=102678&catId=100409&tid=100008&p=1), you lose about 10 ml of urine for every 1 ml (or 1 g according to another place) of pure alcohol. Note that this implies that if you drink a beer that’s less than about 9% alcohol by volume (which most are), then you won’t end up dehydrated. You won’t retain as much water as you would if you just drank water, but you’re not going to end up “behind” on the transaction either. ---
**Author:** ![audiobottle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc8723/32.png) [@audiobottle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/audiobottle)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-pint-of-beer-vs/290390/6 "2005-02-16T19:56:08Z")
Man, stay away from the Sammiclaus regardless. I had that as my last drink on a bender I shared with a girl from class, and all I remember from that night was “hailing taxis” (read: running into the middle of the road and stopping strangers at 3 AM) to take us back to her place. **That** was a hangover. ---
**Author:** ![rjk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@rjk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjk)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2005, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-pint-of-beer-vs/290390/7 "2005-02-18T16:49:45Z")
Thanks for the links, **audiobottle**. That second one is just the sort of thing I was looking for. ---
**Author:** ![audiobottle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc8723/32.png) [@audiobottle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/audiobottle)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2005, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-pint-of-beer-vs/290390/8 "2005-02-18T18:57:37Z")
Really, though, I think the best piece of advice offered here is to stay away from the Sammiclaus. I’ve got a headache just thinking about it.