Any factual reason why wine would get me buzzed faster?

[Solfy]

@Zeriel

Okay, lemme put it to you this way:

Immediately after a large meal, I can drink three beers or malt lemonades and get pretty buzzed, subjectively speaking. This is with Mike’s Hard Lemonade, 11.2oz bottles of 5.2% alcohol.
Immediately after a large meal, I can drink around 5-7 shots of Jack Daniels before I really get a noticable buzz.

What gives?

Carbonation. It speeds gastric emptying, thus getting the ethanol in your bloodstream faster.

[silenus]

@gazpacho

I also did a quick measurement of my wine glasses. I have a set of what I think of as fairly standard red wine glasses. Filling them 1/2 way to the top was 6 oz. I would point out that I really only fill them 1/3 of the way up.

Our wine glasses hold 21 oz. each. One glass of wine with dinner is all I need!

[nagichan33]

I know this is am old topic but while I’m sure for most ppl the reason is a heavy pour I don’t think that’s my issue. I don’t drink often to begin with, and am kinda a lightweight…however a couple sips of red wine and I’m red in the face and feeling the effects. Small sips. I can barely finish a small glass of wine without being full out tipsy. Can anyone think of why this is? I don’t think I’m allergic or anything.

[ThisSpaceForRent]

Damn Zombies…

The beers i drink approach 11-12%…

factor that in as you read the speculation above…

tsfr

[MikeF]

I’ve heard (second hand) that wine has a pH closer to your innards than spirits or beer and that, for some reason, speeds the rate at which the alcohol is absorbed. I’m not sure I’m buying it but this was allegedly said at a sex crimes conference where sexual assaults involving drugs and alcohol was the topic.

[pulykamell]

Interesting. For wines, I would say the average I drink is 12.5-14%, white or red. I like them dry, though, so that’s why. The zins can get into the 15s or more, but anything less than 11% is probably going to be too sweet for me. Just looking at my cheapie table wines like Yellowtail, pretty much everything is at least 11.5%.

As for me, though, when adjusting for portion sizes, alcohol content, and how long it takes me to drink, I really don’t notice any one drink getting me drunk faster than another.

[Leo_Bloom]

@Kevbo

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)

Huh. Ever since my Oma telling my when I was 13 “always have a little bread and butter before drinking Cognac” I vaguely thought that it was because of some sort of lipid/H2O barrier. (Very vaguely, since it never occurred to me that ethanol isn’t water.)

@pulykamell

Interesting. For wines, I would say the average I drink is 12.5-14%, white or red. I like them dry, though, so that’s why. The zins can get into the 15s or more, but anything less than 11% is probably going to be too sweet for me…

Perceived sweetness may be affected by the raw burn of alcohol, but is really not related. In fact, the opposite of your observation is the case. The fortified sweet wines port, some of the sweet sherries, marsala and madeira run to 20%; the sweet desert wines from rot or ice (Sauternes, Banyuls, Tokay, Eiswein, etc.) start at 14%.
Here isa brilliant infographic, with a list of some of the data, on alcohol content in beer, wine, and spirits.
ETA:We’ll know if there is a zombie in the house when Zeriel responds

@Rysto

Zeriel, How fast are you drinking the shots?

[pulykamell]

@Leo_Bloom

Perceived sweetness may be affected by the raw burn of alcohol, but is really not related. In fact, the opposite of your observation is the case.

I’m not talking about fortified wines. With regular wines, you can usually get an idea of sweetness based on alcohol content. Less sugar fermented out = less alcohol, hence why sweet non-fortified wines like what it sold in America as muscatos and German rieslings tend to be in the 8-10% range and the super dry shiraz and zins tend to be in the 14%+ range. ETA: And looking at your infographic, that seems to say exactly that. If I look at a bottle of wine and see the alcohol percentage is under 10%, you can pretty much bet your ass it’s sweet. I can’t think of a dry wine that falls in that range.

[pulykamell]

And, of course, that is not a hard-and-fast rule. Less sweet grapes will produce lower alcohol wines, by definition, because there is less sugar to convert. And perception of sweetness can be caused by other qualities than just sugar (like the presence of tannins, the acidity of the wine, etc.) But, as I like dry wines, you will almost never find me drinking anything under 11%, as the wines that commonly end up in that range are the sweet rieslings, white zins, and moscatos.

[magnusblitz]

@norinew

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.

I agree. A quick google search for an image turned up this visualization of 5 oz of wine in a couple of different glasses. I think most people drink far more than the amount shown in the common type of glass on the left.

[Leo_Bloom]

@pulykamell

I’m not talking about fortified wines. With regular wines, you can usually get an idea of sweetness based on alcohol content. Less sugar fermented out = less alcohol, hence why sweet non-fortified wines like what it sold in America as muscatos and German rieslings tend to be in the 8-10% range and the super dry shiraz and zins tend to be in the 14%+ range. ETA: And looking at your infographic, that seems to say exactly that. If I look at a bottle of wine and see the alcohol percentage is under 10%, you can pretty much bet your ass it’s sweet. I can’t think of a dry wine that falls in that range.

@pulykamell

And, of course, that is not a hard-and-fast rule. Less sweet grapes will produce lower alcohol wines, by definition, because there is less sugar to convert. And perception of sweetness can be caused by other qualities than just sugar (like the presence of tannins, the acidity of the wine, etc.) But, as I like dry wines, you will almost never find me drinking anything under 11%, as the wines that commonly end up in that range are the sweet rieslings, white zins, and moscatos.

I saw that you knew what you were talking about from the level of your general observations about wine; and indeed, the examples you give here are in line with that.

I’m most definitely not a wine guy, and what I’ve seen about oenology and chaptalization is enough to tell me to back off.

[Wintengard]

I am a 48 year old man who drinks a lot, and I’ve been drinking since I was a teenager, and yes, I have noticed this phenomenon, that wine gets ME drunk FASTER than anything else and seems to keep me drunk LONGER than anything else.

Why? I have no idea, but I have a few guesses.

I personally think it is an individual thing and varies from person to person. I think people like me absorb the alcohol in wine better than when it is in the form of vodka or whiskey or rum, etc. I think somehow the alcohol in wine passes into my bloodstream attached to something in the wine.

I have done lots of experimenting with this through the years, and time after time, I come to same conclusion-- wine works better for me. I’ve even timed it and found that wine makes me feel drunk 10 minutes faster than vodka. And it doesn’t wear off so fast.

Ultimately, it comes down to what you like and what is most affordable for you. I find that I can buy red wine fairly cheaply, and it provides me a lot of pleasure for relatively very little money. Carlo Rossi merlot is fine. I also like Livingston Cellars merlot, and even the big boxes of wine are fine. The boxed wine tends to last longer after being opened because less air gets to it.

I still keep hard liquors on hand for guests, and for making various mixed drinks like bloody marys, egg nog, and Irish coffee, etc., but for ordinary drunkeness, I just sip a glass of wine.

One thing I noticed is that with wine, I drink it by itself. I don’t add anything to it, and because it doesn’t burn my throat, I don’t drink any water when I am drinking wine, so it doesn’t get diluted like the hard liquors do. Another thing is that I don’t feel the need to eat when I am drinking wine. So, I don’t get the munchies and food doesn’t enter the picture and reduce the absorption of the alcohol until I am quite drunk already.

And one more thing. Wine does not cause me any hangovers. Rum and tequila cause me hangovers.