# How much can alcoholics really drink? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 5, 2004, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-can-alcoholics-really-drink/253592 "2004-07-05T03:44:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Achilles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dc4da7/32.png) [@Achilles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achilles)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2004, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-can-alcoholics-really-drink/253592/21 "2004-07-05T13:20:42Z")
> [@Popup](#): > > 19th century wine … was closer to 10% (or even lower) I don’t usually do this, but could you please post a quote, or link to a quote, to back up this claim. Thanks ! ---
**Author:** ![Popup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/94ad74/32.png) [@Popup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Popup)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2004, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-can-alcoholics-really-drink/253592/22 "2004-07-05T14:16:11Z")
> [@Achilles](#): > > I don’t usually do this, but could you please post a quote, or link to a quote, to back up this claim. I believe I read it in [On food anc Cooking](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0684843285/102-3766267-4891311?v=glance), but I’ve been looking online for a confirmation now, without success. It’s possible that I’m getting confused with the wine of the ancients, which certainly was made from much more acidic grapes than today, and concequently less alcoholic. However, Even today the cheaper ‘vin de table’ are about 10% (by volume). ---
**Author:** ![Achilles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dc4da7/32.png) [@Achilles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achilles)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2004, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-can-alcoholics-really-drink/253592/23 "2004-07-05T15:11:52Z")
> [@Popup](#): > > I believe I read it in [On food anc Cooking](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0684843285/102-3766267-4891311?v=glance), but I’ve been looking online for a confirmation now, without success. > > It’s possible that I’m getting confused with the wine of the ancients, which certainly was made from much more acidic grapes than today, and concequently less alcoholic. > > However, Even today the cheaper ‘vin de table’ are about 10% (by volume). No problem. ---
**Author:** ![ticker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@ticker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ticker)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2004, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-can-alcoholics-really-drink/253592/24 "2004-07-05T16:44:49Z")
The late, great [Art Pepper](http://www.jazzimprov.com/Artists_Pepper_Art.htm) claimed in his autobiography, Straight Life, that in one period of his life he consumed 2 gallons of red wine daily, just in order to get ‘straight’ enough to search out his next heroin fix. ---
**Author:** ![FilmGeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@FilmGeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FilmGeek)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2004, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-can-alcoholics-really-drink/253592/25 "2004-07-05T17:18:12Z")
In my experience with Ardred working at liquor stores, one can drink more than that and still function enough to get back to the store for another bottle. At his last job, he had one customer who would come in to the store twice a day and buy one or two fifths (750 ml?) of vodka (the really cheap stuff) each trip. He was riding his granddaughter’s bicycle (made for a 10 year old, pink streamers, etc) because his daughter took the keys to the car. I’m glad I didn’t get that particular gene. ---
**Author:** ![cdnguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@cdnguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cdnguy)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2004, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-can-alcoholics-really-drink/253592/26 "2004-07-05T17:38:59Z")
I’m not an alcohocic and rarely get rip roaring drunk anymore. However that amount of liquor doesn’t seem like all that much to me. One birthday of mine I first went to a keg party, and had about 8 beers. Then we decided to go to the bar, a little hole in the wall type place that wasn’t shy about serving you beyond the legal limits. I drank, according to my friends, 26 shots of tequila 3 shots of ameratto (sp?), and around 4-6 rye and gingers. I was very very drunk, and was eventually cutoff, the first and only time anyone we know has been cut off at this bar. So thats around 33 shots and 8 beers, no food in between. ---
**Author:** ![Skully](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f04885/32.png) [@Skully](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skully)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2004, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-can-alcoholics-really-drink/253592/27 "2004-07-05T20:04:22Z")
When I used to work at a liquor store a woman came in and bought a magnum bottle of Georgi Vodka ($12 +tax) or 1.75ml. The guy with me on the counter asked her if it would last her the weekend, she said that she would be lucky if it lasted her the night. I hope she had friends over her house that night. Another guy that worked in my store could finish of a liter bottle of Jose Cuervo or any liter bottle of vodka that was smooth enough. ---
**Author:** ![gum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bbe5ce/32.png) [@gum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gum)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2004, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-can-alcoholics-really-drink/253592/28 "2004-07-05T20:09:51Z")
Originally posted by **Filmgeek** > [@](#): > > \*I’m glad I didn’t get that particular gene. \* That’s interesting that you should mention that. And you’re right, ofcourse, about being glad you’re not an alcoholic. After all my years of experience [hehehe] and studies about this subject, we’re still not sure if it’s in your genes, or a lack of an enzyme in the brain. But this is a hijack. Sorry 'bout that. And I recognize the bicycle story. Only, I fell \*off \* of the darn thing too often, so I had to walk. Oh, and I’m not gonna preach here. Eat, drink and be merry, and all that. Just realize years of heavy drinking - and I mean _heavy_ - did ruin most of my innards and made my face look like one of Picasso’s later works. But then again: Maybe you guys don’t have those genes / are the proud owners of the correct enzyme. In that case: Have a drink on me. 🙂 [/hijack] ---
**Author:** ![Bewildebeest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@Bewildebeest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bewildebeest)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2004, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-can-alcoholics-really-drink/253592/29 "2004-07-06T17:02:53Z")
> [@Excalibre](#): > > It’d be like training for a marathon, only you’re sitting still, and you smell worse. You’ve obviously never sat on the bus after a marathon. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2004, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-can-alcoholics-really-drink/253592/30 "2004-07-06T20:00:45Z")
One of my dad’s best friends drank 120 beers a day, combined with cocaine and other drugs, for the last couple months he was alive. Of course, he was a mountain of a man; strongest man in the southeastern US for several years. I’ve seen my brother drink over 100 beers in one night and he’s not an alcoholic at all. He also happens to be a monster though, at 6’7" 275lbs, and while not an alcoholic, he was in the Marines, which gave him some good practice. I’m sure these are exceptions but not incredibly rare exceptions. ---
**Author:** ![quicken78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/919ad9/32.png) [@quicken78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quicken78)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2004, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-can-alcoholics-really-drink/253592/31 "2004-07-07T10:55:04Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > One of my dad’s best friends drank 120 beers a day, combined with cocaine and other drugs, for the last couple months he was alive. Of course, he was a mountain of a man; strongest man in the southeastern US for several years. > > I’ve seen my brother drink over 100 beers in one night and he’s not an alcoholic at all. He also happens to be a monster though, at 6’7" 275lbs, and while not an alcoholic, he was in the Marines, which gave him some good practice. > > I’m sure these are exceptions but not incredibly rare exceptions. [Joke] What’s the similarity between American beer and making love in a canoe Answer: F\*cking close to water [/Joke] However, from this site: [Realbeer.com: Beer Alcohol Content And Carbs In Beer](http://www.realbeer.com/edu/health/calories.php) even the low end alcohol content for watery beers like Bud is about 4.0% 120 \* 4.0% \* 330 ml (small can) = 1584 ml of alcohol = 1.584 liters of pure alcohol = 4.0 Liters of 40% ABV. I call BS. Sorry \*\* Cisco \*\* ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2004, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-can-alcoholics-really-drink/253592/32 "2004-07-07T11:47:30Z")
You can call BS and I have absolutely no way to prove it. All I can say is that I’ve never lied on this board before and I have absolutely no motivation for doing so. About the closest thing I could get to a cite is anecdotal stories of Andre the Giant drinking 100+ beers and not catching a buzz. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2004, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-can-alcoholics-really-drink/253592/33 "2004-07-07T11:55:33Z")
> [@quicken78](#): > > 120 \* 4.0% \* 330 ml (small can) = 1584 ml of alcohol = 1.584 liters of pure alcohol = 4.0 Liters of 40% ABV.\*\* Wait, I just reread this line. You can’t believe 4 litres of 40% ABV a day by a 300+lb extreme alcoholic? It’s not even nearly as far-fetched as it seems once you put it in these terms. A guy that lived with me in high school drank a half gallon of rum _before school_ one morning. He got kicked out of school and felt horrible for a couple of days but if a 170lb 17 year old kid can drink a half gallon in an hour then a 300lb 40 year old drinking a gallon in 24 hours sounds almost like child’s play. ---
**Author:** ![quicken78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/919ad9/32.png) [@quicken78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quicken78)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2004, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-can-alcoholics-really-drink/253592/34 "2004-07-07T14:16:01Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > You can call BS and I have absolutely no way to prove it. All I can say is that I’ve never lied on this board before and I have absolutely no motivation for doing so. > > About the closest thing I could get to a cite is anecdotal stories of Andre the Giant drinking 100+ beers and not catching a buzz. I am not saying you are lying. I am just saying that it sounds a bit like one of those exaggerated stories about ‘some guy I knew who drank’ that always surround discussions like this. You weren’t the first post in this thread that made me think of this, just the last one. Sorry to pick on you but I really haven’t seen much substance in the responses to the OP except from, perhaps, \*\* gum [/gum] and all the posters that actually have done it themselves. There is no way of demonstrating that they are/were the ‘serious, heavy duty alchies’ though (except for the fact that one thinks, ‘My! That is a lot’) Perhaps the OP could be rephrased as ‘What blood alcohol level can a given individual tolerate above which there is a 90% chance that it would result in severe long term damage or death from drinking during a 24 hour period?’. That should give you an idea about the upper tolerance limit of the serious alchoholics. Anyone know the answer to this? Sorry \*\* Cisco \*\*. Perhaps I am being pedantic but this doesn’t seem to the greatest thread on the SDMB in spite of the interesting OP. ---
**Author:** ![quicken78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/919ad9/32.png) [@quicken78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quicken78)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2004, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-can-alcoholics-really-drink/253592/35 "2004-07-07T14:17:16Z")
Sorry for the screwed up formatting on that last thread. Really must press ‘Preview’!! ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2004, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-can-alcoholics-really-drink/253592/36 "2004-07-07T17:30:31Z")
My once 120 lb. sister-in-law drank a half gallon of vodka nearly every day for around ten years. After she recovered from her coma, she got fat, her hair fell out, her skin became jaundiced, she lost all her teeth, developed acites (sp), had a shunt installed in her abdomen, was put on the liver transplant list, alienated most of her friends and family at one time or another… and then she died. Only 42 years old. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2004, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-can-alcoholics-really-drink/253592/37 "2004-07-07T17:50:34Z")
> [@quicken78](#): > > Sorry for the screwed up formatting on that last thread. Really must press ‘Preview’!! Interesting mistake, using the word ‘gum’ as part of some code. I love it when the brain malfunctions like that (adding a word from one train of thought to the actions of another) ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2004, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-can-alcoholics-really-drink/253592/38 "2004-07-07T18:05:49Z")
I can’t match some of these stories, but, when I was at my peak of drinking, in the year of so before I quit, I was drinking _at least_ 12 beers every single night, usually more. I was limited more by finances than anything else - I couldn’t afford more than that. I would still be mostly functional after 12 beers. ---
**Author:** ![BurnMeUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@BurnMeUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BurnMeUp)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2004, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-can-alcoholics-really-drink/253592/39 "2004-07-07T18:08:10Z")
I’m fairly certain i could polish off 2 litres. I don’t drink often but when i do (I mean drinking, not a cocktail with dinner) I usually can polish off a litre in a 6 hour period with no serious ill effects the next mornign and only a minor intoxication. (Note: this is done with an evening at home… no driving involved). I could probably finish off 2 litres and be a bit the worse for wear and have a bit of a hangover. ---
**Author:** ![dotchan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@dotchan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dotchan)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2004, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-can-alcoholics-really-drink/253592/40 "2004-07-07T19:03:46Z")
Anecdotal, second hand information, so take with a grain of salt. (Like a martini! :D) Guy was pulled over, passed all the sobriety tests, but the breath test revealed that he actually had 0.5 blood alcohol. :eek: (My brother told me this story, and I asked him to repeat that last number several times. He said, very emphatically, that “half of his blood was alcohol”. Of course, I was still skeptical of this conclusion, but I’m passing it on to you Dopers for your perusal.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-can-alcoholics-really-drink/253592.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-can-alcoholics-really-drink/253592.md?page=3)