# Andre the Giant drank 117 beers in one sitting, how is that possible **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 23, 2014, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andre-the-giant-drank-117-beers-in-one-sitting-how-is-that-possible/699290 "2014-09-23T01:40:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2014, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andre-the-giant-drank-117-beers-in-one-sitting-how-is-that-possible/699290/21 "2014-09-23T09:55:25Z")
There was a 1981 “Sports Illustrated” where the writer spent a week with Andre. His daily alcohol consumption was a case of beer, two bottles of wine, six or eight shots of brandy, half a dozen mixed drinks and an occasional Pernod. The writer saw no sign of it affecting it. I don’t know if it effects it, but Andre had a much longer torso than most seven footers. Do I believe he could consume 117 beers? Even allowing for wrestling hype, I think he could. [http://www.puroresu.com/personalities/andre/andresi.html](http://www.puroresu.com/personalities/andre/andresi.html) ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2014, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andre-the-giant-drank-117-beers-in-one-sitting-how-is-that-possible/699290/22 "2014-09-23T10:43:35Z")
Mutant healing factor. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2014, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andre-the-giant-drank-117-beers-in-one-sitting-how-is-that-possible/699290/23 "2014-09-23T11:34:43Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > Unless he had super-kidneys and a giant bladder he would only be able to process a liter of urine an hour. Remember that everything on this guy was larger than usual. Presumably, yes, he DID have super-sized kidneys and bladder. Active alcoholics can put away an amazing about of booze, and Andre fell into that category based on typical consumption. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2014, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andre-the-giant-drank-117-beers-in-one-sitting-how-is-that-possible/699290/24 "2014-09-23T12:01:51Z")
If the guy is a long time alcoholic he could probably handle the ethanol, as he would have a tolerance on top of his larger body size. I don’t know about the amount of liquid though. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2014, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andre-the-giant-drank-117-beers-in-one-sitting-how-is-that-possible/699290/25 "2014-09-23T12:46:14Z")
There is plenty of evidence that he was a prolific drinker. There is also plenty of evidence that no one counted a specific number of beers. He was known to stay up all night drinking, so the time line could be 12 hours or more. 12 oz. is not the smallest size beer that can be obtained. He could be getting 8 oz. bottles or mugs. Any witnesses to this actual event were probably drunk also and may not have counted accurately. If Andre said it was so no wrestler would ever disagree with him. According to a reliable source, 1 to 2 cases of beer, probably 24 to 48 12 oz. beers was his typical daily consumption. So whatever the actual number was, it was a lot. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2014, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andre-the-giant-drank-117-beers-in-one-sitting-how-is-that-possible/699290/26 "2014-09-23T12:54:03Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > Bear in mind that most of these stories come from wrestlers, about another wrestler. Yes, Andre drank a lot. Claims of particular amounts should be viewed with skepticism. A lot of his heavy drinking stories do (even some of the outlandish beer numbers (127, 156)), but IIRC from poking around on the internet last night, the 117 number came from Cary Elwes. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2014, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andre-the-giant-drank-117-beers-in-one-sitting-how-is-that-possible/699290/27 "2014-09-23T13:12:04Z")
> [@74westy](#): > > I have it on the best authority that engineers can demolish 40 beers. I don’t give a damn… ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2014, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andre-the-giant-drank-117-beers-in-one-sitting-how-is-that-possible/699290/28 "2014-09-23T14:08:05Z")
> [@chiroptera](#): > > When I googled “Andre the Giant drank 117 beers in one sitting,” (since the OP was not thoughtful enough to provide a link…) I got back a bunch of results for him drinking [156 beers](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andr%C3%A9_the_Giant)in one sitting. I don’t envy him the headache when he awoke - but I hope he slept well and dreamt of large women. ---
**Author:** ![johnspartan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a183cd/32.png) [@johnspartan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnspartan)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2014, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andre-the-giant-drank-117-beers-in-one-sitting-how-is-that-possible/699290/29 "2014-09-23T15:02:31Z")
Not only was he a heavy drinker (both literally and figuratively), it’s said he was self-medicating with booze to deal with the pain of the wrestling career and also just physical deformity. Also, remember that the idea that “that’d kill ya”… well… ---
**Author:** ![boffking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/858c86/32.png) [@boffking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boffking)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2014, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andre-the-giant-drank-117-beers-in-one-sitting-how-is-that-possible/699290/30 "2014-09-23T16:14:48Z")
If a beer is 5% alcohol, then 117 of them is more than half a gallon of alcohol. Wouldn’t that kill almost anyone? ---
**Author:** ![Uniqueorn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uniqueorn/32/2807_2.png) [@Uniqueorn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uniqueorn)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2014, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andre-the-giant-drank-117-beers-in-one-sitting-how-is-that-possible/699290/31 "2014-09-23T16:31:30Z")
> [@boffking](#): > > If a beer is 5% alcohol, then 117 of them is more than half a gallon of alcohol. Wouldn’t that kill almost anyone? Yes. Almost anyone. The guy really was a giant and when he needed a back operation, the doctors didn’t even know how much anesthesia they would need to put him under, so they estimated by asking how much alcohol would give him a buzz. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2014, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andre-the-giant-drank-117-beers-in-one-sitting-how-is-that-possible/699290/32 "2014-09-23T16:33:29Z")
> [@boffking](#): > > If a beer is 5% alcohol, then 117 of them is more than half a gallon of alcohol. Wouldn’t that kill almost anyone? Not necessarily. Long-term alcoholics can not only develop an unusually high tolerance for alcohol, they can sometimes develop the ability to metabolize it much faster than a normal person as well. Andre the Giant had many unusual physical characteristics related to his extreme size. His liver would have been much larger than normal and may have gotten really efficient at processing alcohol. If he drank them over many hours, his body may have been able to process much of the alcohol from earlier drinks before he got to the end. We don’t know that it was 5% alcohol beer either. It could have been 4.2% Coors Light or something even weaker. 117 beers is obviously a whole lot for anyone and that is why he mentioned it but it is somewhat plausible given his unusual physical stature and routine drinking habits. He passed out at the end of the night so he obviously found his hard limit. It was just a whole lot higher than most normal people’s. Some people can just consume an almost inhuman amount of things. For example, would you believe [this woman](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonya_Thomas) if she told you she can eat 37 hotdogs in 12 minutes. She really can and has. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2014, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andre-the-giant-drank-117-beers-in-one-sitting-how-is-that-possible/699290/33 "2014-09-23T17:12:56Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > Unless he had super-kidneys and a giant bladder he would only be able to process a liter of urine an hour. He would have water intoxication pretty fast if not. > > Even if he did have super sized kidneys and a bladder that could handle that much water, he would be passing gallons of urine an hour. > > 4 beers an hour is unreasonable, assuming a person can only get rid of 1 beer an hour. By hour 10 you have 30 beers in your system. Beer has salt in it so you wouldn’t get water intoxication. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2014, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andre-the-giant-drank-117-beers-in-one-sitting-how-is-that-possible/699290/34 "2014-09-23T17:26:03Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > Beer has salt in it so you wouldn’t get water intoxication. Got a cite on that one? Beer is (typically) Water, Malt, Hops and Yeast. Even if you could argue that some salt showed up in the process or that some brewers added it, I’d have a time believing it was added SO you could drink so much that you wouldn’t die due to the shear amount of water you were consuming. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2014, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andre-the-giant-drank-117-beers-in-one-sitting-how-is-that-possible/699290/35 "2014-09-23T17:34:43Z")
You are correct, I was wrong. Beer does not contain salt. Perhaps Andre was eating fries with that. I, not being a beer drinker, just spouted off. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2014, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andre-the-giant-drank-117-beers-in-one-sitting-how-is-that-possible/699290/36 "2014-09-23T17:36:41Z")
Errr, I read that sentence wrong. I read it that TSS was saying that the brewers were adding salt to preventing people from ODing on water. Having said that, does beer actually have salt? ETA: Simulpost, but I did wonder about drinking all that water. From time to time you do hear about people dying from drinking too much water and it’s usually something like a gallon or two. Of course, it’s usually over the course of a few minutes or a gallon of milk in an hour. To the best of my knowledge, we don’t have a time line on the beers. He may have drank them over a 12 hour period. Started at noon with lunch, passes out at midnight. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2014, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andre-the-giant-drank-117-beers-in-one-sitting-how-is-that-possible/699290/37 "2014-09-23T17:39:58Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Got a cite on that one? > > Beer is (typically) Water, Malt, Hops and Yeast. Even if you could argue that some salt showed up in the process or that some brewers added it, I’d have a time believing it was added SO you could drink so much that you wouldn’t die due to the shear amount of water you were consuming. I think the “so” is being used as a “therefore” there. A typical beer has about 10-15mg sodium per 12 oz. That’s really not a whole lot. A typical soda serving at 12 oz is 40-50 mg sodium. ---
**Author:** ![Aquadementia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aquadementia/32/555_2.png) [@Aquadementia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aquadementia)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2014, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andre-the-giant-drank-117-beers-in-one-sitting-how-is-that-possible/699290/38 "2014-09-23T18:27:48Z")
Did he have anything to eat with those beers, like 50 eggs? ---
**Author:** ![Lubricious\_Integument](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/82dd89/32.png) [@Lubricious\_Integument](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lubricious_Integument)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2014, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andre-the-giant-drank-117-beers-in-one-sitting-how-is-that-possible/699290/39 "2014-09-23T18:52:00Z")
Nobody can eat 50 eggs. ---
**Author:** ![OldOlds](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a3d4f5/32.png) [@OldOlds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldOlds)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2014, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andre-the-giant-drank-117-beers-in-one-sitting-how-is-that-possible/699290/40 "2014-09-23T19:17:08Z")
> [@Lubricious\_Integument](#): > > Nobody can eat 50 eggs. I don’t know. He really was huge, and remember, active eggsoholics can put away… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andre-the-giant-drank-117-beers-in-one-sitting-how-is-that-possible/699290.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andre-the-giant-drank-117-beers-in-one-sitting-how-is-that-possible/699290.md?page=3)