Q&A

1. STANDARD DRINKS

a) What is a standard drink?

A standard drink is that amount of an alcoholic beverages which contains 10 grams of alcohol.

For example, a middy (285 mL) of regular strength beer, a small glass (100 mL) of wine, a nip (30 mL) of spirits, or a glass (60 mL) of fortified wine all contain about one standard drink.

b) How do I calculate the number of standard drinks in a container and what does the labelling statement have to say?

The calculation is simple. Just follow this formula:

Volume of container (litres)*	X	% alcohol by volume (mL/100 mL)	X	0.789**	=	The number of standard drinks
	X		X	0.789**	=

* For example a 750 mL bottle is 0.75 litres
** The specific gravity of ethanol is 0.789

The statement must indicate the number of standard drinks in the container. Examples of the calculation and required wording on some typical products are as follows:

A 750 mL bottle of wine is 12.5% alcohol by volume would contain 0.75 x 12.5 x 0.789 = 7.39 standard drinks. This would be rounded up to 7.4 standard drinks and the label would need to say:

'CONTAINS APPROXIMATELY 7.4 STANDARD DRINKS' or 'APPROX 7.4 STANDARD DRINKS'

2. BEER GLASS SIZES

a) How are beer glass sizes determined in Australia?

The following table identifies the different names for the varying glass sizes peculiar to each State. Beer drinkers' nicknaming of glass sizes varies from State to State with a 6oz known as 'Small' in Victoria while the same glass size is known as a 'Bobbie' in Western Australia. Drinkers in New South Wales, Tasmania & Northern Territory continue to resist the metric measures and continue to use the size in ounces to signify the glass sizes they want.

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