English person here debating another Englishman. Basically wondering at what point you call it “excessive” ? And what amount is fine.
Bonus if you can mention the state and brand you drink.
Thanks to all who help with his late night debate.
Edit: I see lots saying age matters. I’m 38 and will happily drink about a gallon for your American conversation rate.
31 comments
In Wisconsin we would have “a couple a two tree beers.”
Average possibly 0
Age and context matter.
Home on the couch at 50? 2 is a lot.
Happy hour with friends at 25? Half dozen?
Just stop in time to get breakfast at the waffle house before going back to work.
Depends on generation. I’m 29 and I noticed people my age just aren’t really into drinking alcohol as much as our forefathers.
Two or three; quit by 900p or so if tomorrow is a workday.
More than 3 and I’m looking at you a little surprised, especially if it’s just a random Tuesday or something. More than 5 or 6 and I’d call it excessive.
Now if you’re having multiple drinks every single day during the week I’m calling that excessive flat out.
Weekdays- usually zero- I’m in my 30s and guess what- I am indeed older and holy Schmidt the next day kinda sucks
Had a few this week at a conference and not worth it
The flying and travel haven’t helped, looking forward to getting home and getting a full nights rest, having a productive weekend with some workouts
Well, I used to drink about a bottle of whiskey a night. But then the liver died so I can’t do that anymore. That was in Texas, Mississippi and Illinois. Don’t drink that much, folks. It’s scary to almost die.
If you’re hungover the next day it was excessive
Average american, about 3 drinks.
Median american, about 0 drinks
I have a drink every night with my dinner. Typically a glass of scotch, or make myself an old fashioned. I’m 35 in CA if that matters.
Me and my husband don’t drink at all. My brother in law allows himself to drink on Thursdays and stops himself at 3 beers. Brand varies but he likes Pacifico. We live in PA
The average has zero. Many have 1-2, some have more.
DC. Tonight after leaving work I had a beer (Modelo Especial) at my tailor’s shop while he was fitting me for a shirt, then met my wife for a dry martini (Bombay sapphire, twist of lemon), then went to a work event where I had two glasses of Angel’s Envy bourbon on the rocks.
Grew up in Wisconsin, now live in Iowa.
At 40+ I rarely drink midweek, but am more likely to do afternoon/happy hour drinks if I do. A day out to celebrate something midweek would be 5 or 6 American light beers (Coors Light, Miller Lite, nothing heavier than a Heiniken) but still home by 7 pm and asleep by 8 pm.
It’s always the English asking about drinking…
Average on a weeknight is probably something like .2 I would guess. Definitely closer to zero than one. Most Americans don’t drink on weeknights or have one drink with dinner.
I drink about 8-10 nights per month. Usually one drink. Sometimes more than that on weekends at a sporting event lr something of that nature.
Drink of choice if I’m having 1-2 drinks is whisky. I enjoy single malts usually with Campbletown being my favorite region. But I also like bourbon. Brand? I don’t have a single go-to but let’s say Springbank and Ardbeg are two of my favorite general brands of single malts usually whisky. I keep a bottle of Woodford Double Oaked bourbon most of the time, too.
I’ll have wine with pasta or beer with pizza.
New Yorker living in Tennessee.
Zero. I am not built for that shit anymore. California sober all the way.
Median is 0. Average is probably 3, to account for all the alcoholics.
I would probably say two is about right. Three verges on too much and more is excessive IMO. You can probably drink more beer and not have it feel excessive as compared to hard liquor.
For reference, my 20s are a couple of decades behind me. I am in Iowa (midwest) and don’t have a consistent go-to drink. In the summer I will say a Leinenkugel Honey Weiss is a favorite. Otherwise I like a darker beer.
Back when we were drinking pretty heavily, my wife and I would share two bottles of wine over the course of many evenings. We had recently moved to wine country where I have relatives who own a winery. Sometimes there were cocktails or beer / cider as well, and I’m a pretty decent brewer and bartender, so we had a good time.
Don’t remember ever being particularly badly hung over, mostly just didn’t sleep very well some nights; I biked to work a lot (ten miles each way), and it didn’t slow me down. The really big drinking was usually at parties and holidays – vacation with the cousins in the mountain cabin was especially memorable (nobody had to drive anywhere!).
Midweek I stick with one beer or wine with dinner. Trying to keep the weekly consumption to 5-7 units. When I was younger it was more like 15-25.
Age is an odd inverse for this one. My grandma (Silent generation) had a “sundowner” every day at 5pm. Her kids (Boomers) would never drink on weekdays. Her grandkids (GenX) might occasionally share a beer at dinner and a pitcher after our weekly [insert athletic activity]. Our kids (Young Millennials/GenZ) don’t really drink much but they might hotbox their apartment on the regular.
Its hard to overstate how much this is going to vary. Almost half of Americans don’t drink, but more than 10% will have over 10 on a thursday evening.
Wisconsin, 6 a night on average, my buddy had 6-7 beers and a 1/4 bottle of whiskey on a Wednesday night, up for work at 5. Wisconsin does not represent all of the USA but we skew the numbers
Midwest have weighed in immediately 😅 for the record Im from WI and moved 13 times. No state drinks like WI. And since i grew up there i took it with me for better or worse.
1-3 weekday drinks but for 0 its a good reason
I split a bottle of wine each night with my wife. Often have a couple of pints of IPA that day too. It’s probably excessive. I should cut back.
This Michigan millennial: a gin and tonic after work and a glass of wine with dinner.
I imagine the average person has zero. If you take out alcoholics, the literal average is probably still under 1.
I would call one drink a night just fine. 2? Okay, I wouldn’t think you’re weird but I wouldn’t do it. 3 or more every night? That is starting to get into ‘weird’ territory for me. 4 or more? I’d worry about if you if you were a family or good friend.
Of course this is kind of age dependent. <25 years old, if you occasionally get drunk on a week night with friends and it fits into your schedule, I think that’s okay. Maaaaaybe stretch that into late 20s if you don’t have other responsibilities. 30+, you really should have more priorities in your life than getting buzzed every night and I worry you’re becoming a problem drinker.
Ohio – 1 or 2 (beer, glass of wine or bourbon) a few days a week. May do up to 4 on a weeknight if it’s a special event, but that’s rare. Weekends are a different story…
Coming from someone in the military the answers here surprise me. Apparently, all my family, friends, and coworkers are alcoholics.