Calories in alcohol: beer, wine and spirits

Alcohol is easy to forget when you count calories, yet a couple of drinks can add as much as a meal. Here are approximate calories for common drinks in US and UK serving sizes, and how alcohol affects weight loss.

Why alcohol has so many calories

Pure alcohol contains about 7 kcal per gram — almost as much as fat (9 kcal) and nearly twice as much as protein or carbs (4 kcal). On top of that come the carbs and sugar in beer, wine, mixers and liqueurs.

• A US standard drink contains 14 g of alcohol — about 100 kcal from alcohol alone.
• A UK unit is 8 g of alcohol — about 55 kcal from alcohol alone.

The stronger the drink and the bigger the glass, the more calories. Check the ABV (% alcohol by volume) on the label.

Calories in beer

• regular beer, 12 fl oz (355 ml), about 5% ABV — about 140–155 kcal;
• light beer, 12 fl oz — about 90–110 kcal;
• IPA or craft beer, 12 fl oz, 6.5–7.5% ABV — about 200–250 kcal;
• UK pint (568 ml) of lager, 4–4.5% ABV — about 180–220 kcal;
• pint of stronger craft beer, 6% ABV and up — 250–350 kcal;
• non-alcoholic beer, 12 fl oz — usually 50–90 kcal.

Calories in wine

• red or white wine, 5 fl oz (150 ml), 12–13% ABV — about 120–130 kcal;
• UK medium glass, 175 ml — about 150–165 kcal;
• UK large glass, 250 ml — about 210–230 kcal (a third of a bottle);
• a 750 ml bottle — about 600–650 kcal;
• sparkling wine or Champagne, 4–5 fl oz flute — about 90–120 kcal;
• sweet dessert wine or port, 3 fl oz — about 140–170 kcal.

Calories in spirits

Unflavored spirits — vodka, gin, whisky, rum, tequila — have practically no carbs; their calories come from alcohol.

• US shot, 1.5 fl oz (44 ml), 40% ABV — about 95–100 kcal;
• UK single measure, 25 ml, 40% ABV — about 55 kcal; double (50 ml) — about 110 kcal;
• cream liqueurs and sweet liqueurs, 1.5 fl oz — about 120–170 kcal.

Mixers and cocktails

Often the mixer adds as much as the spirit:

• regular tonic or cola, 8 fl oz (240 ml) — about 80–100 kcal; diet versions — close to zero;
• gin and tonic with regular tonic — about 150–200 kcal;
• rum and cola — about 180–220 kcal;
• hard seltzer, 12 fl oz — about 100 kcal;
• cider, UK pint — about 200–250 kcal, more for sweet or strong ones;
• mojito — about 200–250 kcal; margarita — 200–300+ kcal;
• piña colada or other creamy, sweet cocktails — often 400–500 kcal.

Bar and restaurant cocktails vary a lot with recipe and glass size, so treat these as ballpark figures.

How alcohol affects weight loss

• Calories without fullness. Drinks rarely make you eat less afterwards.
• Lower inhibitions. Alcohol makes the late-night pizza, chips and second dessert more likely — often more calories than the drinks themselves.
• Fat burning pauses. The body prioritizes processing alcohol, so less fat is used for energy while it does.
• Worse sleep. Even moderate drinking disturbs sleep, which raises appetite the next day.
• Water weight. Salty bar food and a disturbed routine can make the scale jump for a day or two.

An evening of four pints or a bottle of wine is about 600–900 kcal — for many people, more than a whole day's deficit. Over a week, regular drinking can quietly cancel out a calorie deficit and explain a plateau.

Health guidance, briefly

From a health point of view, less is better: the World Health Organization says there is no level of drinking that is completely safe. UK guidelines advise not regularly drinking more than 14 units a week, spread over several days, and US guidelines advise adults who drink to keep it limited. If you do not drink, there is no health reason to start.

How to log alcohol

1. Log drinks as you go — after the third one, memory gets unreliable.
2. Use the actual serving size: a pub pint or a large glass of wine is much bigger than a standard drink.
3. Log the mixer and the snacks too.

In Temfy Nutri you can find drinks in the food search, scan a barcode on a can or bottle, or add your favorite as a custom food. The diary counts alcohol calories toward your daily total, so you can see how a night out fits into your week in Analytics.