Alcohol spreads through body water, so the same drink reads higher in a smaller or less watery body. The estimate uses average factors and an average clearance of 0.15 per mille an hour — the real range is 0.1 to 0.2. It cannot tell you whether you may drive; only a breath or blood test measures anything.
1StepPick male or female — it sets the distribution factor, 0.68 against 0.55.
2StepEnter your body mass, not your lean mass.
3StepCount the servings; the sizes in the labels are the German standard pours.
4StepFor anything else, fill in both volume and strength, or it does not count.
5ResultEnter the hours since the first drink; 0.15 per mille comes off each one.
What this number means
It cannot tell you whether you may drive
It estimates a concentration from average factors; it is not a measurement. Only a breath or blood test measures blood alcohol, and whether driving is allowed does not hang on this number.
The first 30 to 90 minutes are not modelled
Widmark assumes the alcohol is fully absorbed and evenly spread, which is untrue while you are still drinking. The absorption deficit and that uptake phase are left out of this calculator.
Every constant here is really a range
The reduction factor is published as 0.68 to 0.7 for men and 0.55 to 0.60 for women; this calculator takes the lower edge of each. Clearance is published as 0.1 to 0.2 per mille an hour, and the 0.15 used here is the middle of it.
The servings are German standard pours
A beer counts as 0.5 l at 5 %, a glass of wine as 0.2 l at 12 %, a shot as 2 cl at 40 %. Anything else needs both its volume and its strength filled in, or it does not count.
Commonly misread
The calculator says I am fine to drive.
It says nothing about fitness to drive. It estimates a concentration from average values, and only a breath or blood test measures anything.
Two people who drank the same end up at the same reading.
Alcohol spreads through body water, so body mass and the distribution factor both move the result. The same three beers peak at 1.09 ‰ in an 80 kg man and about 1.66 ‰ in a 65 kg woman.
The estimate is good to the second decimal.
Clearance alone varies by a factor of two between people. The figure is accurate enough to inform, never enough to rely on.
Reference table
Serving
Pure alcohol
Peak in an 80 kg man
Peak in a 65 kg woman
Beer, 0.5 l at 5 %
19.7 g
0.36 ‰
0.55 ‰
Wine, 0.2 l at 12 %
18.9 g
0.35 ‰
0.53 ‰
Shot, 2 cl at 40 %
6.3 g
0.12 ‰
0.18 ‰
Three beers
59.2 g
1.09 ‰
1.66 ‰
Questions
How is blood alcohol concentration calculated?
Grams of alcohol divided by body mass times the reduction factor — the Widmark formula. Three half-litre beers at 5 % hold 59.2 g of ethanol, and in an 80 kg man 59.2 ÷ (80 × 0.68) peaks at 1.09 per mille.
Why does the result differ between men and women?
Alcohol distributes into body water, and men carry proportionally more of it, so the factor is about 0.68 against 0.55. The same three beers that peak at 1.09 per mille in an 80 kg man reach about 1.66 in a 65 kg woman, because both terms of the denominator are smaller.
How fast does alcohol leave the blood?
About 0.15 per mille an hour, as a constant amount rather than a constant fraction, which makes the decline a straight line. The published range is 0.1 to 0.2 per mille an hour depending on liver function, habit and medication.
How accurate is this estimate?
Accurate enough to inform, never enough to rely on. Widmark assumes the alcohol is fully absorbed and evenly spread, which is untrue for the first 30 to 90 minutes, and the clearance rate varies by a factor of two between people.
If I am under 0.5 per mille, may I drive?
This calculator cannot answer that, and the honest advice is not to. German law already treats 0.3 per mille as criminal when driving is impaired, and learner and under-21 drivers face an absolute ban; limits differ in every other country.
What if my drink is not beer, wine or a shot?
Use the free-form serving: enter its volume in millilitres and its strength in percent, and it is added to the three counts. Both fields must be filled for it to count.