Alcohol Macro Calculator
Work out the grams of alcohol and the calories in a drink, and how to log them as carbohydrate or fat in an app that has no alcohol entry.
Result
Enter alcohol by volume (abv) to see the result.
https://calcgallery.com/nutrition-energy/alcohol-macro-calculator/
How to use the Alcohol Macro Calculator
- Enter the volume of one drink and its alcohol by volume (ABV) from the label.
- Enter the grams of carbohydrate in one drink if the label gives it. Leave it at zero for spirits.
- Enter how many drinks to count.
- Read the grams of alcohol and the energy, then choose one of the two ways to log it in your app.
How the numbers are built
A drink’s energy comes from its alcohol and from any carbohydrate left in it: sugars in wine, cider and mixers, and the carbohydrate that remains in beer after fermentation. The page counts both:
alcohol, g = volume in mL × ABV × 0.79 g/mL × drinksenergy, kcal = alcohol g × 6.9 + carbohydrate g × 4The 0.79 is ethanol’s specific gravity, the value the blood alcohol page uses. The 6.9 and 4 kcal per gram are the energy factors in the USDA’s Agriculture Handbook 74, Energy Value of Foods (Merrill and Watt, 1973).
The two ways to log it
Food logs track three macronutrients, and alcohol is a fourth, so it has to be entered as something else. The two common conventions:
all as carbohydrate: grams = total energy ÷ 4alcohol as fat: grams = alcohol energy ÷ 9, plus the drink’s carbohydrate as carbohydrateBoth give the same calorie total in the app. They differ only in which macro target absorbs the drink, so pick whichever fits the way you track.
What the page does not do
It does not count drinks against any limit or guideline, and it does not estimate blood alcohol. For that, the blood alcohol content page uses the same grams of alcohol with a separate, published method.
With your numbers
- Alcohol = 354.9 mL × 5% × 0.79 g/mL × 1 = 14 g
- Energy = 14 g × 6.9 kcal/g + 13 g carbohydrate × 4 kcal/g = 149 kcal
Quick reference
An estimate from the label: brewers and winemakers round the ABV they print, and carbohydrate varies by recipe.
| Example | Energy |
|---|---|
| 12 fl oz beer, 5%, 13 g carbs | 149 kcal |
| 12 fl oz light beer, 4.2%, 5 g carbs | 101 kcal |
| 5 fl oz wine, 12% | 97 kcal |
| 1.5 fl oz spirits, 40% | 97 kcal |
| 330 mL beer, 4.5%, 10 g carbs, 3 drinks | 363 kcal |
| 150 mL wine, 12% | 98 kcal |
| 25 mL spirits, 40% | 55 kcal |
| 568 mL pint of cider, 5%, 20 g carbs | 235 kcal |
Where the numbers come from
The fixed figures this calculator relies on, and the published source each one was checked against. How the calculators are built and checked
3 sources
p. 3: "Since alcohol has a specific gravity of .79". Computing a BAC Estimate, NHTSA Office of Program Development and Evaluation (October 1994); the only copy found online is hosted by the Brewers Association, https://www.craftbeer.com/attachments/0000/1170/Computing_a_BAC_Estimate.pdf
Used for
- Specific gravity of ethanol, used to convert drink volume to alcohol mass.
Merrill AL, Watt BK, Energy Value of Foods: Basis and Derivation, USDA Agriculture Handbook No. 74 (slightly revised February 1973), p. 20: "The calorie factor for alcohol used in the tables in this publication is the one proposed by Atwater and Benedict (15), 6.9 calories per gram"; p. 7 gives the gross energy value, 7.07 calories per gram. https://www.ars.usda.gov/ARSUserFiles/80400525/Data/Classics/ah74.pdf
Used for
- Energy factor for alcohol (ethanol) used in USDA food tables: 98% of its 7.07 kcal/g heat of combustion.
Merrill AL, Watt BK, Energy Value of Foods: Basis and Derivation, USDA Agriculture Handbook No. 74 (slightly revised February 1973), p. 48, the "general factors 4, 9, 4", https://www.ars.usda.gov/ARSUserFiles/80400525/Data/Classics/ah74.pdf
Used for
- General Atwater energy factor for carbohydrate.
- General Atwater energy factor for fat.
Common questions about the Alcohol Macro Calculator
- How do I log alcohol in a macro tracking app?
- Most apps track protein, carbohydrate and fat, and have no entry for alcohol, so people log its calories as one of the others. Logging it all as carbohydrate divides the energy by 4 kcal per gram; logging the alcohol as fat divides the alcohol’s energy by 9 kcal per gram and keeps the drink’s own carbohydrate as carbohydrate. Either way the calorie total in the app matches the drink. The page shows both.
- How many calories are in a gram of alcohol?
- The page uses 6.9 kcal per gram, the factor in USDA Agriculture Handbook 74, which bases it on Atwater and Benedict’s finding that 98 percent of alcohol’s 7.07 kcal per gram heat of combustion is used by the body. Many articles round it to 7.
- How is the alcohol worked out from ABV?
- ABV is the share of the drink’s volume that is ethanol. Multiplying the volume by the ABV gives millilitres of ethanol, and multiplying by ethanol’s specific gravity of 0.79 gives grams.
- Why does the label’s calorie figure differ from the page?
- Labels round, carbohydrate varies from brand to brand, and a few drinks contain protein or fat the page does not count. Where a label gives a calorie figure, it describes that product more closely than the page can.