Alcohol calories calculator

Where the calories in a drink come from

Alcohol is not a nutrient you need, but it does carry energy: the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee uses 7 calories per gram of ethanol, more than carbohydrate or protein (4) and fewer than fat (9). Most of the calories in spirits are alcohol, because a plain spirit has little else. In beer and sweet drinks, carbohydrate is a large second part, and in cocktails the mixers can outweigh the spirit. That is why two drinks with the same alcohol percent can differ by a hundred calories.

How many calories are in a standard drink?

About 98 calories come from the alcohol alone, because a US standard drink holds 14 grams of pure alcohol and alcohol has 7 calories a gram. The 2020 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee puts it as approximately 100 calories, with the non-alcoholic parts adding more. A 12 fl oz, 5% beer comes to about 149 calories in total, a 5 fl oz, 12% glass of wine about 113 and a 1.5 fl oz shot of 80-proof spirits about 98.

How do I calculate the calories from the alcohol percent?

Multiply the volume in milliliters by the alcohol percent as a fraction, then by 0.789 (the density of ethanol in grams per milliliter), then by 7. For 12 fl oz (355 mL) at 5%: 355 × 0.05 × 0.789 × 7 = 98 calories. Add 4 calories for every gram of carbohydrate.

Why does the USDA number differ from this calculator?

Because the USDA counts everything in the glass. For a regular beer can it lists 153 calories; applying 7 and 4 calories a gram to the USDA's own alcohol and carbohydrate grams gives 148, and the roughly 1.6 g of protein adds the rest (154). The method is within a few calories of the food database, which is as close as a label-free estimate can get.

Do light beers and wines really have fewer calories?

Beer: USDA lists 103 calories for a 12 fl oz can of light beer against 153 for regular, mostly from less alcohol (11 g against 13.9 g) and less carbohydrate (5.8 g against 12.6 g). For wine, a 5 fl oz serving of red table wine is 125 calories; a larger pour or a stronger or sweeter wine raises it, and a 9 fl oz glass at 13.5% already holds about 214 calories with 4 g of carbohydrate.

How many calories are in a cocktail?

It depends on the recipe. The spirit adds the alcohol calories, and juice, soda, syrup or liqueur add carbohydrate. This calculator gives the total if you enter the whole glass: the volume, the overall alcohol percent and the carbohydrate grams from the recipe or a nutrition label. We do not guess recipes, because the numbers vary a lot between bars.

Is a standard drink the same as one serving?

Not always. A restaurant pour or a craft beer is often larger or stronger than the standard drink, which holds 14 grams of pure alcohol. Use the standard drink calculator to count how many standard drinks you really had. The 2025–2030 Dietary Guidelines advise consuming less alcohol for better overall health and say some people should avoid it completely, including pregnant women.

How the calculation works

The calculator converts the volume to milliliters (1 fl oz = 29.5735 mL), multiplies by the alcohol fraction to get the milliliters of pure ethanol, and multiplies by the density of ethanol, 0.789 g/mL, to get grams. Ethanol's density is 0.7893 g/cm³ at 20 °C according to the CRC Handbook as cited by PubChem; warm drinks differ in the third decimal, which does not matter here. Grams of alcohol × 7 gives the alcohol calories; grams of carbohydrate × 4 gives the sugar calories. The two add up to the total, which is multiplied by the number of drinks. Dividing the grams of alcohol by 14 gives the number of US standard drinks.

Worked example

A 12 fl oz can of beer at 5% is 354.9 mL. Pure ethanol: 354.9 × 0.05 = 17.7 mL, which weighs 14 g, so the alcohol gives 98 calories. The USDA lists 12.6 g of carbohydrate in a regular beer can, adding 51 calories. Total: 149 calories, of which 66 percent is alcohol. The USDA's own figure for that can is 153 calories. For wine, a 5 fl oz glass at 12% has 14 g of alcohol (98 calories) plus 3.8 g of carbohydrate (15 calories), a total of 113; the USDA lists 125 calories for 5 fl oz of red table wine.

The estimate in the table applies 7 calories per gram to the USDA's alcohol grams and 4 per gram to its carbohydrate and protein grams. Without protein, the beer estimate is 148.

Limits of this method

• The percent on the bottle is approximate. Beer and wine labels give alcohol by volume with a tolerance, and craft beers range widely. A 7% beer holds 40 percent more alcohol, and alcohol calories, than a 5% beer of the same size.
• Carbohydrate is on you. Dry wine and plain spirits have little or none, sweet wines, ciders, liqueurs and mixers have a lot. The calculator cannot see sugar that you do not enter, so a cocktail entered with the beer preset or a zero will come out wrong. The University of Sydney's glycemic index FAQ notes that wines and spirits contain virtually none and that beer has 2 to 3 g per 100 mL.
• 7 is a rounded factor. The Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee uses 7 calories per gram, and food tables use specific factors very close to it. The difference is under a calorie or two per drink, far less than the uncertainty in the label.
• Calories are not the main alcohol risk. The 2025–2030 Dietary Guidelines advise drinking less for better overall health; see the standard drink calculator for counting and the BAC calculator for a rough blood alcohol range.

Sources and related calculators

Sources, read October 28, 2026: Scientific Report of the 2020 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, Part D, Chapter 11 "Alcoholic Beverages" (7 calories per gram; standard drink of 14 g; 12 fl oz of 5% beer, 5 fl oz of 12% wine, 1.5 fl oz of 40% spirits), dietaryguidelines.gov; Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2025–2030, section on alcoholic beverages; USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy entries 168746 (beer, regular), 168749 (beer, light) and 173190 (wine, table, red); PubChem, ethanol, density (CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 95th ed.); University of Sydney glycemic index FAQ (carbohydrate in beer). This page is not endorsed by or affiliated with the USDA or HHS. Related: standard drink calculator, BAC calculator, ABV calculator and calorie calculator.

For general information only — not medical advice. Talk with your doctor or another health professional about your own health. How we check our calculators.