Any factual reason why wine would get me buzzed faster?

Factual Questions
1

I’ve noticed lately, when I drink, that wine will get me buzzed much faster than beer or hard liquor. According to everything I’ve read, two (5oz.) glasses of wine is equivalent to 2 (12oz.) beers or 2 shots of hard liquor. However, reality is that 2 glasses of wine drank over a one-hour period will cause a “buzz”, whereas 2 beers or 2 shots of hard liquor will not. I even experimented with this yesterday, at my sister’s house (I was not driving home); it was a birthday party. Plenty of beer and hard stuff (as well as liqueurs) present. In a 4-hour period, I drank: 3 beers (12oz each, not “light”-blech) and 1/2oz. orange vodka mixed with 3oz Peach Schnapps. So, what? the equivalent of 4 drinks. Four glasses of wine would have had my head buzzing, whereas the beer+Schnapps+vodka=nada.

What, if anything factual, gives?

2

I’m curious about this as well, because the same thing happens to me. Wine and champagne will get me loopy faster than anything!

3

I get a slightly different one–for me, it’s those fizzy malt beverages like Mike’s Hard Lemonade or whatever.

Straight vodka and bourbon, in shot form, I can drink about twice as much alcohol before feeling the same effects that I get from malt stuff. Full stomach, empty stomach, fizzy mixers for the hard stuff, no change–I still get subjectively buzzed faster from the same amount of beer.

4

[WAG]Beers and wines use different yeast strains. Perhaps the alcohol is slightly different molecularly, or, since there is less “filler” (non alcoholic portion), it is able to get into your bloodstream more quickly.[/WAG]

5

Alcohol content in wine can vary quite a bit, you should tell us what kind of wine you are drinking. Some wines may be 12% alcohol, while some of the Zins can go as high as 16%. Same with beer. Just calculate the total amount of alcohol instead of the amount of liquid, and that might hep.

6

[QUOTE=John Mace]
Alcohol content in wine can vary quite a bit, you should tell us what kind of wine you are drinking. Some wines may be 12% alcohol, while some of the Zins can go as high as 16%. Same with beer. Just calculate the total amount of alcohol instead of the amount of liquid, and that might hep.
[/QUOTE]

Well, I like Zins, but I tend to vary from week to week (I usually have a glass of wine in the late afternoons); this week, it’s Pinot Grigiot, last week, it was Chardonnay, a couple of weeks ago, it was a red zinfandel from the Williamsburg winery. I understand that the actual alcohol content can vary, but I don’t stick to the same kind all the time.

Curiouser and curiouser, thought Alice.

7

I don’t stick to the same kinds of wine either, and I haven’t noted the alcohol content of any of them. I don’t drink wine regularly due to how quickly I become incoherently giggly, and the headache it usually gives me.

8

[QUOTE=Pygmy Rugger]
[WAG]Beers and wines use different yeast strains. Perhaps the alcohol is slightly different molecularly, or, since there is less “filler” (non alcoholic portion), it is able to get into your bloodstream more quickly.[/WAG]
[/QUOTE]

Sorry, I can’t see any way in which this is true. Ethanol is not a variable thing. Any variations would be different organic compounds, most of which are toxic. The fermentation process is a very predictable process.

The most likely explanation is that the high school drivers ed equations you quote disregard some important variations. The most important of which is probably variation in the volume of a standard glass of wine.

Most bottle beers are 12oz, or 11.2oz for European imports. Excepting Belgian strong ales, most non-light beers have a %ABV between 4.8% and 5.5%. Light beers are as low as 3.8%. So the equivalences you quote will change if you are drinking a light beer, as most people tend to do in the US. Thats part of the reason why the 2 beers = 2 wines would tend to make the wine seem more effective than you expect.

As for wine, like most things in the service industry these day, portions have ballooned. No longer is a 5oz glass of wine reliably standard. Most restaurants use huge, wide mouthed glasses for their wines, especially reds, and controlling the portion size is a dicey proposition. I would wager that the typical restaurant portion of wine trends closer to 7-8oz, and that inexperienced wine drinkers pour even heavier at home were presentation and profit margin aren’t important. A 5oz glass of wine would look practically empty to many people.

Lastly, wine, as already noted, varies even more than beer in it’s alcohol content. Often trending towards the stronger in now popular styles such as Merlot and Cabernet. The typical range can vary from 8% at the low end and 16% at the high end.

Doing the math, a 12oz beer at 5%ABV contains 0.6oz of ethanol. a 5oz glass of wine at 12%ABV also contains 0.6oz ethanol. While the amount of alcohol in the beer is going to be very consistent, and any change likely being less alcohol due to a light beer, that amount in a glass of wine has a ton of variability. A strong wine at 16%ABV poured tall to 8oz is going to balloon to 1.28oz of ethanol, over double the alcohol content. Suddenly two glasses of wine becomes the equivalent of almost six Bud Lights.
In short, beer and shots are very consistent in the portioning of alcohol. Wine lends itself to a huge degree of variation, hence people accidentally over serve themselves with wine.

9

Perhaps you’re drinking more wine than you think. While 5 ounces may be the regulation size for wine I’ve noticed bars pouring 8, sometimes even 10 ounces in the glass. That would skew the “beermath” dramatically. Expecially if the wine has more than average alcohol content.

Or are you drinking at home and measuring it?

10

[QUOTE=pkbites]
Perhaps you’re drinking more wine than you think. While 5 ounces may be the regulation size for wine I’ve noticed bars pouring 8, sometimes even 10 ounces in the glass. That would skew the “beermath” dramatically. Expecially if the wine has more than average alcohol content.
[/QUOTE]

That’s my guess, too. It’s especially hard to keep track when the host is constantly topping you up, rather than offering you a brand new beer or mixing a whole new drink.

11

[QUOTE=norinew]
Well, I like Zins, but I tend to vary from week to week (I usually have a glass of wine in the late afternoons); this week, it’s Pinot Grigiot, last week, it was Chardonnay, a couple of weeks ago, it was a red zinfandel from the Williamsburg winery. I understand that the actual alcohol content can vary, but I don’t stick to the same kind all the time.

Curiouser and curiouser, thought Alice.
[/QUOTE]

Not so curious really. Zins are notoriously high alcohol content wines, so if you’re drinking them a lot, you’re getting more booze than you realize. And I almost guarantee you’ve never poured a mere 5oz glass of it.

12

Do wine glasses really only hold 5 oz? Even if that’s the recommended pour, I think people fill them.

13

[QUOTE=SmackFu]
Do wine glasses really only hold 5 oz? Even if that’s the recommended pour, I think people fill them.
[/QUOTE]

Just as an example, look here at the Crate and Barrel website.

These standard wine glasses are 20oz and 28oz. 28 ounces! The glass shown as perhaps 2/5ths full looks like a fairly modest pour, until you do the math and realize that it’s probably about 12 ounces of wine in that glass! If we’re talking about a Zinfindel, that’s basically 4 beers worth of booze in 1 glass.

14

There is also an inconsistency in the time interval reported. The OP talks about drinking 2 glasses of wine in a 1 hour period, as compared to 4 drinks in a 4 hour period.

15

[QUOTE=norinew]
(I usually have a glass of wine in the late afternoons)
[/QUOTE]

So, on an empty stomach in other words? Food, especially greasy food, causes the pyloric valve in the stomach to close. This keeps the alcohol from entering the small intestine, slowing adsorption. (some is still adsorbed via the stomach)

16

[QUOTE=Omniscient]
Just as an example, look here at the Crate and Barrel website.

These standard wine glasses are 20oz and 28oz. 28 ounces! The glass shown as perhaps 2/5ths full looks like a fairly modest pour, until you do the math and realize that it’s probably about 12 ounces of wine in that glass! If we’re talking about a Zinfindel, that’s basically 4 beers worth of booze in 1 glass.
[/QUOTE]

Those are very large glasses, though lately they have been running larger. I would guess that a “normal” wine glass is closer to about 16 oz, and filled about halfway or slightly more, 8-9 oz of wine.

But highly variable indeed.

17

[QUOTE=stolichnaya]
Those are very large glasses, though lately they have been running larger. I would guess that a “normal” wine glass is closer to about 16 oz, and filled about halfway or slightly more, 8-9 oz of wine.

But highly variable indeed.
[/QUOTE]

True enough, but if you take a second and browse that site you’ll see that “red wine” glasses with volumes in the 20s are more common than those close to 16oz. The narrower “white” glasses tend to be more reasonably sized, but I think most would agree that hugely oversized wine glasses are the vogue at most fine dining places today.

18

Just as a side note, I’ve found that inexpensive wine is the cheapest route to a buzz.

I can get Carlo Rossi (not great, but okay. Definately not “bum wine”) when it’s on sale for $3.99 for 1.5 litres at the Pick-n-save. Ounce wise that’s about the same as 4.5 beers. But at 12% it has almost 3 times the alcohol. That’s a lot of buzz factor for four lousy bucks.

All in all, I think a lot of people are unaware that wine has much more ethanol it in than beer.

19

So far, speaking for myself (as opposed to others who have posted saying "I was wondering that, too), I think the most likely answer is I’ve been underestimating the serving size. I do use a wine glass (and it’s even an old wine glass, hence not the behemoths you see most recently), but measuring shows me that how I generally fill the glass is actually about 8oz, not 5oz. Therefore, two glasses of wine is really damned close to three servings of wine. So that seems to clear up my mystery.

Thanks, guys!

20

That’s what I was going to guess, because I’ve noticed the same thing, but only when I serve myself the wine. Gee, I wonder why? g