Types of alcoholic drinks & alcohol content

From beer to vodka, there are countless different varieties of alcoholic drinks.

Most are easy to access, and can be bought from any supermarket, as well as some corner shops.

However, not every alcoholic beverage will have the same impact on you, because different alcoholic drinks have differing levels of alcohol in them.

In order to be well informed about alcohol, it is important to understand the differences that exist between different types of alcoholic drinks, and how they might impact you.

What is alcohol?

Alcohol has been cultivated and consumed by humans for thousands of years.

For example, wine was a part of daily life in the Roman empire, and the drink was widely available for everyone across Roman society.

However, the use of alcohol can be dated even further back than that, and research has suggested that the first alcoholic drink could have been made and consumed as far back as 9,000 years ago.

So, what is it?

Alcohol is a classified as a depressant drug, though it is legal in the UK unlike many other drugs.

It is also a chemical compound, and is part of the hydroxyl grouping of chemicals.

Atoms bind with the chemical and create something called secondary alcohols, which are better known as methanol, isopropanol, and ethanol.

How commonly used is alcohol?

Today, a colourful variety of types of alcoholic drinks can be easily accessed across the UK. These all contain the secondary alcohol – ethanol.

They can be bought from almost any shop that sells drinks and food, and alcohol forms a key part of social gatherings in the UK.

In the UK, alcohol is a legal drug and it can be bought and consumed by anyone who is over the age of 18.

In fact, surveys show that around 54% of adults in the UK consume alcohol at least once a week, which is around 30 million people.

This means that alcohol is a lucrative financial market in the UK, and there are many brands of alcohol that sell variations of the same type of drink.

At Rehab 4 Alcoholism, we offer free advice from a team of non-judgemental professionals, many of whom are in recovery and understand how hard can be to change your relationship with addiction.

For more information about types of alcohol, simply reach out to our 24/7, confidential hotline on 0800 111 4108.

How are different types of alcohol measured?

In the UK, the content of alcohol in a drink is measured in units.

One unit is a measurement of 10ml of pure alcohol, and so it allows you to keep track of how much alcohol you are drinking when you drink and alcoholic beverage.

An average bottle of beer, with around 330ml, might contain 1.7 units. This means that when you have finished the bottle of beer, you have consumed 17ml of pure alcohol.

Some alcoholic drinks contain more units than others for the same volume. For example, 500ml of wine will typically contain more alcohol in it than 500ml of beer, and will therefore be more units.

What is the recommended limit units of alcohol?

The chief medical officer in the UK sets the guidance and recommendations for the limits of alcohol consumption based on research and evidence.

Currently, the guidelines suggest that adult men and women in the UK should drink no more than 14 units (140ml) of alcohol a week, and that the consumption of these 14 units should be spread over 3 days or more.

So, if you drank 3.5 units of alcohol across 4 days, that would add up to 14 units a week and would fit within the recommended limits.

What can confuse some people is the number of units you consume isn’t about the quantity of what you drink, but the strength of what you drink.

So, 14 units adds up to around 7 bottles of beer a week, while a single bottle of wine adds up to 10 units.

14 units a week is generally considered to be a ‘safe’ amount of alcohol to drink, even if it is increasingly clear that the consumption of any amount of alcohol is linked to negative health outcomes.

If you exceed this amount, you are more likely to incur the short-term and long-term risks that are associated with increased alcohol intake.

What are the three types of alcohol?

Out of the three secondary types of  alcohol, methanol, isopropanol, and ethanol, it is only ethanol than is safe for human consumption.

The other two secondary alcohols are used in manufacturing and for cleaning products, but they are toxic to ingest and can cause liver failure. Even small amounts of either chemical can lead to fatality.

Ethanol, which is the type of alcohol that is present in alcoholic beverages, is created through the interaction of yeasts, sugars, and starches in a fermentation process.

While ethanol isn’t immediately toxic, the body can only process small amounts of it at a time, and exceeding that limit can have harmful side-effects.

With the prolonged consumption of ethanol, it is likely that a person will incur damage to their liver, brain, and other organs because of the harmful effects of the chemical.

Because of how it effects the brain, the continued consumption of ethanol over a long period of time also comes with the risk of developing an alcohol use disorder, and the best known of these is alcoholism.

Distilled and undistilled types of alcoholic drinks

All types ofalcoholic drinks are ethanol based, and fall into two categories: distilled or undistilled.

Undistilled drinks are created by a process called fermentation, which is the process by which the bacteria yeast consumes sugars in order to grow and reproduce, and produce ethanal as an output.

Wines, beers, and ciders are all types of fermented drinks where natural ingredients (such as grapes, apples, and barley) are fermented in order to produce ethanol and their distinct taste.

Distillation creates distilled alcoholic drinks, and these are the second category of alcoholic beverage.

The distillation process follows on from the fermentation process, and it isolates and separates the alcohol from the other components in the liquid, such as the sugar and the water.

Distillation creates alcoholic drinks like spirits, such as vodka and gin, which have higher alcohol concentration than fermented alcoholic drinks, and therefore more units of alcohol per 100ml.

At Rehab 4 Alcoholism, we offer free advice from a team of non-judgemental professionals, many of whom are in recovery and understand how hard can be to change your relationship with addiction.

For more information about types of alcohol, simply reach out to our 24/7, confidential hotline on 0800 111 4108.

Different types of alcoholic drinks listed by alcohol content

Undistilled drinks

These are the fermented alcoholic drinks that have not undergone a distillation process.

Beer

Beer is the most commonly consumed alcoholic drink across the UK, and across the world more broadly.

Beer is made from the fermentation of grains and hops, and a 500ml of beer will typically contain 2.8 units, making it one of the least alcoholic drinks you can consume.

Wine

The origin of wine isn’t completely understood, and archaeologists have found indicators that wine could have been made in ancient China and ancient Georgia as far back as 4,000 years ago, with people burying grape juice underground over the winter and letting it ferment into an alcoholic drink.

Now, it is one of the most popular alcoholic drinks in the UK, and it comes in lots of varieties. 500ml of wine will contain around 8 units.

Cider

Cider is made from fermented apples, and is one of the more traditional alcoholic drinks in the UK with roots in the south-west of the country specifically.

Cider is generally a slightly stronger alcoholic drink than beer, and it can come as a dry drink, a sweet drink, and a carbonated drink. 500ml of cider will typically contain around 3 units.

Mead

While mead has now fallen out of fashion in the UK, the drink was widely consumed in the medieval period, and by Vikings.

It is created by the fermentation of honey, which has large amounts of naturally occurring sugars which gives it a sweeter taste than some other alcoholic drinks. 500ml of mead will typically contain between 8 and 10 units.

At Rehab 4 Alcoholism, we offer free advice from a team of non-judgemental professionals, many of whom are in recovery and understand how hard can be to change your relationship with addiction.

For more information about types of alcohol, simply reach out to our 24/7, confidential hotline on 0800 111 4108.

Saké

Saké is a traditional Japanese alcoholic drink, and it is one of the strongest undistilled drinks that you can find. It is made by the fermentation of rice, and 500ml of saké can contain over 10 units.

Distilled drinks

These are the alcoholic drinks that have been distilled. They are often drunk in shots, which is a 25ml measure. Most shots of distilled drinks typically contain around 1 unit, but there are some exceptions.

Gin

Gin is a spirit that is made with juniper berries. It has a bitter, dry taste, and it often mixed with tonic water or lemonade. One 25ml serving of gin typically contains around 1 unit.

Brandy

Brandy is a sprit that is made of distilled wine, meaning that the alcohol is created by the fermentation of grapes. One 25ml serving of brandy typically contains around 1 unit.

Whisky

Whisky is a popular spirit in the UK, which is made from the distillation of fermented grain. It’s often drank by itself, with ice, or mixed with coke. One 25ml serving typically contains around 1 unit.

Rum

Rum is made from the distillation of fermented sugarcane or molasses. This gives the spirit a relatively sweet taste. Like whisky, it’s usually mixed with coke, and one 25ml serving typically contains around 1 unit.

Tequila

Tequila is a traditional Mexican spirit, that is made through the fermentation and distillation of the Mexican agave plant. One 25ml serving typically contains typically contains around 1 unit.

Vodka

Vodka a traditional Russian, and is made from the fermentation and distillation of grains and potatoes. One 25ml serving typically contains around 1 unit.

Absinthe

Absinthe is one of the strongest spirits, and is made through the fermentation and distillation of a variety of leaves and herbs. It has a distinctly anise flavour, and a single 25ml serving can contain around 2 units, or even more.

How does the strength of an alcoholic drink change its impact on the body and brain?

No matter what alcoholic drink you consume, the actual alcohol that you are drinking is the same. The only difference is the concentration in the alcohol.

Drinking 500ml of beer and 500ml of wine, for example, will elicit very different effects because of the strength.

With the wine, you are effectively consuming 60ml more of pure alcohol.

This means that more alcohol will enter the bloodstream, increasing your blood alcohol concentration levels, and increasing the impact of intoxication.

You will get drunk more quickly, and it will be easier to binge drink accidentally, or develop alcohol poisoning.

This risk is especially heightened with the consumption of shots of spirits in rapid consumption, because they are very quick to drink but have the same strength as a full can of a weaker alcoholic drink.

In summary, the strength of different types of alcohol doesn’t change how they impact the body and brain.

The strength just makes the impact occur more quickly, and speeds up the level of intoxication.

Other than that, drinking the same number of units of vodka and beer, over the same period of time, will have no different impacts on you.

At Rehab 4 Alcoholism, we offer free advice from a team of non-judgemental professionals, many of whom are in recovery and understand how hard can be to change your relationship with addiction.

For more information about types of alcohol, simply reach out to our 24/7, confidential hotline on 0800 111 4108.

Alcohol use disorders and alcohol addiction

An alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a type of condition that a person can be diagnosed with, developing from their use of alcohol and relationship to the substance.

AUDs cover conditions like alcohol abuse, alcohol dependence, and alcohol addiction.

Alcohol addiction is generally regarded as the most serious form of alcohol dependence, and symptoms include intense, hard to control cravings for alcohol, as well as withdrawal symptoms when it hasn’t been consumed for a period of time.

Alcoholism can lead people to drink excessive quantities of alcohol for a long period of time, and is also associated with heavy binge drinking.

The negative impacts of this on the body and brain are huge, and people living with alcoholism have decreased physical and mental health outcomes.

People living with alcoholism are more likely to die early from cancer, stroke, heart disease, or organ failure, while they are also more likely to develop mental health conditions like depression or anxiety, and this can lead to higher rates of suicide.

For these reasons, it is vitally important that someone living with alcoholism seeks out professional support so that they can break their addiction and begin their recovery from the condition.

Trying to break your addition to alcohol without professional support can be dangerous and ineffective, because the withdrawal symptoms can cause so much discomfort and can be dangerous. In the worst cases, complications linked with alcohol withdrawal can be fatal.

Are stronger types of alcohol connected to alcohol addiction?

If you drink high quantities of stronger alcoholic drinks, you are more likely to create an unhealthy relationship with alcohol than someone who drinks less strong alcoholic drinks in moderation.

This is because stronger drinks have a more powerful effect on the brain, which increases the likelihood of addiction.

However, someone who consumes strong alcohol drinks sensibly, in moderation, and inline with the official guidance can still have a healthy relationship with alcohol.

At Rehab 4 Alcoholism, we offer free advice from a team of non-judgemental professionals, many of whom are in recovery and understand how hard can be to change your relationship with addiction.

For more information about types of alcohol, simply reach out to our 24/7, confidential hotline on 0800 111 4108.

Treatment for alcohol addiction

Treatment for alcohol addiction is very important, because the condition is so serious and damaging.

It involves several steps, and can be a difficult journey. However, successful treatment for alcoholism can be life changing and have a huge number of positive impacts on a person’s life.

Treatment begins with detoxification, where the alcohol is removed from the body’s system and the effects of withdrawal symptoms are carefully managed.

The second stage involves therapy, which is most commonly cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT).

CBT will aim to change your behavioural patterns, and allow you to understand the root cause of your addiction to alcohol as well as the triggers that lead to alcohol use and abuse.

Then, you will be encouraged to join support groups such as SMART recovery and Alcoholics Anonymous, which will help you to learn from the experience of other people who have been in a similar position to you.

This will be a key source of motivation to continue on with your recovery from alcoholism, which will have many difficult moments and challenges along the way.

At Rehab 4 Alcoholism, we offer free advice from a team of non-judgemental professionals, many of whom are in recovery and understand how hard can be to change your relationship with addiction.

For more information about types of alcohol, simply reach out to our 24/7, confidential hotline on 0800 111 4108.

References

[1] Drinking risk categories: binge drinking

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/delivering-better-oral-health-an-evidence-based-toolkit-for-prevention/chapter-12-alcohol#:~:text=Binge%20drinking%20really%20means%20drinking,an%20increased%20risk%20of%20injury.

[2] The Risks Associated With Alcohol Use and Alcoholism

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3307043/