Depends on which “average” we’re talking about. The median and mode of drinks per night (when I’m drinking, which isn’t every night) is probably two.
There are, however, nights that raise the mean considerably.
I’ve been tracking my alcohol recently as part of a weight-reduction effort, and seem to be running about 8 drinks per evening (usually wine). A vast improvement over a sustained bout of heavy drinking 40 years ago where it was 30+ drinks a night 7 days a week for a couple of years. (That one demonstrably burned out some brain cells; over 20 IQ points dropped - and they never came back! I used to be fairly smart.) My {EDIT: preliminary} goal is to average under 5, and no ‘binges’ over 8.
It’s a loaded question. A night of drinking for me can be any from - I had a couple of beers after work last night - to - how the hell did I end up in Vermont?
I have a regular Tuesday night band practice which is usually accompanied by a few pops – maybe three or four beers. But then when the band went up to do a gig at a college last year, we all stayed at our singer’s house the night before and I’m pretty sure I socked away at least 8 or 9 beers and several shots of lord knows what.
I don’t like beer or wine, and I’m not big on mixers either, so I don’t drink at all unless I really mean it.
Those health surveys that ask how many drinks you average per day always give me a chuckle…I drink anywhere between 0 and 2 nights per week, and when I do, I drink about 12-16, so the answer to the question is “1-2”, but I really don’t think that tells them what they think it does.
ETA: 1-2 for the health survey question, not the poll. I’m in the 12+ group for the latter.
Quite simply, it depends on too many factors.
Last night I only had a couple of pints (Guinness). I’ve also been known on many occasion to hit double figures. There is no standard.
Two is the limit. More often I just have one 12oz beer. I still have 5 beers left from the six pack I bought in July.
I may not really qualify for this thread. I described my drinking to the doctor doing my life insurance exam and he wrote non-drinker on the form.
It’s a straightforward question. It’s the respondent who may be loaded. 
One drink.
If I’m really feeling in the mood, maybe two.
You are me. Cheers!
I have a drink every now and then at home and pretty much stop at one. But, when I go out to party I usually have a few more than 12, sometimes 18 or so. Maybe 2-3 times a year.
First off, I probably drink about 2-3 times a month.
If it’s not at home, 2 drinks tops, 1 if it’s a short foray – as I will almost certainly be driving home. No more than one drink an hour, last drink at least an hour before driving.
On the rare occasions I won’t be driving afterwards, I may drink more but I probably still top out at something like 4 or 5; I just don’t enjoy being drunker than that.
At home, if I drink at all, it will generally be a single drink – unless we’re having company, in which case the “I won’t be driving afterwards” rule goes into effect 
On average, I’d say 2. (So about 1 drink a week.)
I’m just clicking in to say that I read the poll results wrong and mixed up the number of responses with the category titles, so my first thought was, “Good Lord! The average Doper knocks down 23 drinks!?”
I said 2, but it’s probably around 1.5… I would say my mode is 1, and if I have more than 3 drinks in an evening I tend to either get the spins or get really drowsy. This is good, because I literally can’t get falling-down drunk… I puke first.
It took me altogether too long to learn this.
Keeping track would just make me depressed.
There are nights when no drinking is involved? Ignorance fought!
Depends on the setting. Dinner party when i brought my own beer, then 6-8 bottles not out of the question. If im at restaurant where drinks are really costly, then very rarely more than 4.
By y’all’s standards I’m a teetotaller. My average week with work/school M-Fish and a party Friday night would look like this:
1,0,2,0,0,4,1
Drinking doesn’t have that much appeal to me. If I’m not with people I won’t drink at all unless I’m enjoying a new beer or making a new mixed drink.
e: That’s after a steady decline. My heaviest semester in college would have been 3,2,2,2,3,8,6, but I just can’t make myself care about drinking like I could then.
Are the numbers in the poll pints or gallons? I’m off the chart anyway you measure it, but for accuracy’s sake, a little clarification is desired. 
I’m not a frequent drinker (maybe once a month). If I’m drinking at home, I’ll have one or two drinks. If I’m out somewhere, I’ll have two to four drinks.
I’m pretty surprised at these results. I’m always thinking I should drink less - mostly for weight issues, not because I have problems with alcohol - but it appears I’m in good company.
I try not to drink anything 1 or 2 nights a week, most weeks. During the holidays this gets harder.
I try to keep it between 1-3 drinks for the rest of the week, but there’s inevitably at least one or two days that it goes up to 4 drinks. That almost always boils down to a couple beers (occasionally a cocktail), and then splitting a bottle of wine with Mr. Athena. This happens over an evening - starting at maybe 6, going until 10 or 11, and includes dinner.
I know my limits - much more than that, or even sticking with that amount on an empty stomach or not spreading them out over time - results in me feeling it the next day, which I despise. That’s not to say I don’t go overboard at times, but I always spend the next day cursing myself, so I try not to. I’m horrible when it comes to wine & socializing, it ALWAYS seems like a good idea to have more when I’m yakking with people.