The number of beers you might need to drink to feel drunk depends on the characteristics of the beer as well as your weight and body type. Some drinks are much stronger than others. Most bulk beers such as Coors, Budweiser, Heineken and Corona don’t have enough alcohol to influence blood alcohol levels too much with a drink or two, but you may find yourself feeling intoxicated by a couple of craft beers, as some can have ABVs in of 10% or higher, more typically associated with wine or hard alcohol.
Of course, excessive alcohol consumption can have dangerous, even fatal consequences, so I generally advise against drinking to get drunk. But you need to know your limits so that you can stick to them, right?
Calculate your Blood Alcohol Content
A BAC calculator is a helpful tool to help you determine blood alcohol levels based on the number of beers you’ve drunk over a period of time and consider factors such as gender, age, and weight. However, choosing the exact number of beers you actually need can be a bit of a challenge, as the number not only varies from person to person, but it can change for you from day to day depending on various factors. As long as you drink a standard commercial beer with an alcohol content between 4 and 5%, it’s very unlikely that the alcohol from two beers will be enough to raise your blood alcohol levels high enough to be considered “drunk”. Given this, while it is not normal to feel drunk after a single beer, it is possible for the various factors involved to coincide so that you begin to feel drunk slower, or faster, than average.
Someone who weighs 100 pounds (45 kg) will feel the effect of beer much faster than someone who weighs 200 pounds (90 kg). A man weighing 190 pounds (86 kg) might need four to five beers in to feel drunk, while a woman weighing 160 pounds (73 kg) might three to four drinks. Your tolerance will also play a part – experienced beer drinkers tend to drink more and don’t feel the effects as quickly or intensely as people who don’t drink as often.
Want to Avoid Getting Drunk on Beer?
Of course, should you be in the mood for a session on the beers, but don’t want the resulting drunkenness and hangover, there are options you can try. The first option is simple dilution of the alcohol in your system. Drink plenty of water before you drink, and also try taking sips of water or other soft drinks in between beers. Alternatively, the recent explosion in the range of quality low-to-no alcohol beers means that even designated drivers and teetotalers can enjoy the taste of beer while staying, for all intents and purposes, sober.
