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[Closed] Booze - how much ? too much ?

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chatting with a riding buddy on Saturday - he said he was feeling 'a little hungover' after him and a pal drank a full bottle of Malt the night before, after a few beers each. Got me thinking !... No way could I do that and even get out my bed the next day. I do like whisky, and wine, and probably get through a bit more than the recommended 14 units max a week most/some weeks, but jeez, that sounds a heap to get through..


 
Posted : 11/03/2019 12:48 pm
 ton
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6-8 pints of pale ale most Saturdays. I feel ok after.


 
Posted : 11/03/2019 12:50 pm
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Over the course of a year it may come out at 1 pint a week, some weeks are likely 0.... some are 3-4 ...mostly though it's a 0.


 
Posted : 11/03/2019 12:53 pm
 Drac
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Yeah drank that and more in the past. Now it's fairly rare or maybe a pint once a week during the cricket coaching season.

That said this morning month I've drank more than the last 2 or 3 put together.


 
Posted : 11/03/2019 12:56 pm
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i once drank a big bottle of southern comfort while djing one new years eve, i could still taste southern comfort on 2nd jan

if i drank 1/2 bottle of whiskey i'd be sick, one is more than enough,
i didnt feel great sunday am after 5 pints, but i managed 25km in wind and rain, soak through and muddy


 
Posted : 11/03/2019 12:59 pm
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Went to friends house for dinner on Saturday, probably put away similar alcohol content over the 6 hours we were eating & drinking.

Definitely wasn't up for a bike ride the next morning, although one of the party went for a run at 7am. But she is addicted to running.


 
Posted : 11/03/2019 12:59 pm
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I'd be in bed for a couple of days after drinking that.
Beers-wise, I can get away with maybe three pints of below 4 percent beer and feel normal the next day.
But if I do the odd saturday binge - double figures pints-wise - I just tend to stay in bed the day after.


 
Posted : 11/03/2019 1:13 pm
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glad it's not just me ! Back in the student days, 30 plus years ago, I do recall me and a mate trying to do 15 pints - it didn't end well 🙂

Nowadays 3 pints fill me up. I can happily consume a nice bottle of red over an evening, but I wouldn't be up for much of a bike ride the day after..


 
Posted : 11/03/2019 1:24 pm
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Think the most I've ever done is 15 pints, over a long all day session, of carlsberg. As I had eaten I didn't feel too terrible the day after.
But spirits and the top shelf is a different beast entirely and I stay well clear of that stuff.


 
Posted : 11/03/2019 1:34 pm
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I do enjoy my spirits (well Brandy, Rum and Jack D), never tried to do a full bottle on my own in a night as would probably end up in a hospital visit. I opened a new bottle of brandy on Friday 1st March, pretty much half of it gone. I only drink on a Thursday and Friday night. I tend to just have 2 or 3 large one's and no more.
I'm no drinker though, I really suffer from hangovers so my riding tends to be on a Sunday hence not drinking on a Saturday night. Couple of months ago I had a fair few glasses of beer and rum while having a very late night watching the boxing, tried to do a club ride in the morning and got dropped on the first climb. Rode home on my own very slowly remembering never to do that again.
As a side note, one glass of whiskey leaves me feeling ruined. Had too many drunken attempts to get to like whiskey when I was much younger, most attempts ended up with me on the porcelain telephone chatting to Huey, so I now steer way clear.
15 pints?!?! My bladder wouldn't be able to cope with that. I'd still be peeing a week later.


 
Posted : 11/03/2019 1:54 pm
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I can't touch whiskey after a session of whiskey as a 17 year old. It was in the summer and I remember trying to watch the wimbledon final the next day with half an eye open - and I didn't drink that much of it. Never again. Must have some kind of intolerance for dark grained booze.
I think alcohol is a very ambiguous thing - it can help people socialise and relax, but it can ruin people too. I'm amazed some mornings when I walk around and see how many bottles of wine some of the neighbours have got through that week.


 
Posted : 11/03/2019 2:08 pm
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I think the whole 14 units thing is just scaremongering to get us to drink less, countries such as Spain seem to recommend 30 odd a week.

I think if you drink to the point of getting a hangover the next day then that's too much.


 
Posted : 11/03/2019 2:28 pm
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^^^^^ yeah, when we were chatting about it on Saturday it didn't seem that long ago that in UK they recommended a max of 28 units. Though I did see something the other month saying it should be zero !


 
Posted : 11/03/2019 2:31 pm
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The kids think I drink too much.

It's generally one beer (small can) and a glass of wine (or two) on a friday/saturday. Then a beer (or two) sunday afternoon. Nothing monday to thursday. Some weekends nothing. Some days just one beer all night.

So - even with more alcohol in the wine/beer than was used as the default - i'm about 10/12 units a week.

But the kids think any alcohol is bad, and I guess the peer pressure from them does make me cut down. Long gone are the days of drinking every night, and knocking them back. And yeah, I do feel better for it.

Course, there is the occasional (once a month?) session down the pub with the lads. But even then we're talking 4 pints - I just can't do anymore.


 
Posted : 11/03/2019 2:32 pm
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Reminds me of Hague and his 14 pints claim


 
Posted : 11/03/2019 2:34 pm
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The heaviest drinking I've witness was on rugby tours as a teenager. We would have a few beers, but the coaches and dads would be drinking on the coach like it was going out of fashion.
These were respectable married men, headteachers etc, but that's the first time I've ever seen a culture of heavy drinking in action.
I'm not sure if it's still as prevalent in rugby these days.


 
Posted : 11/03/2019 2:41 pm
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Despite brewing my own beer and wine I actually drink very little.

I did drink 8 pints on thursday night though, felt "very drunk" at 4am, but wasn't falling over. Woke up Friday with the worst hangover i can remember in a long time, spent most of friday night shift eating a massive takeaway pizza.

In a normal week, 1-2 pints?

A bottle of whiskey is only 27-32 units depending on strength so half that is only the same as 7 pints of 'normal' strength gnat's piss lager, 5.5 pints of 5%.


 
Posted : 11/03/2019 2:42 pm
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I'm a one pint a week bloke, i love the tase and really if i didn't have to drive to "the best pub in the world" i could quite happily drink 3 a week... though I'm still quite reserved on the drinking front. Just fills me up and I burp..  but i really love the taste of my (not quite so) locals multi award winning ales.

Whisky, well yes I have been naughty in the past. Once drank half a bottle with my BiL and wife over a camp fire in a late Autumn BBQ.. was fabulous and i giggled like a child apparently.

Mostly these days I get two sniffers a week in, but they are generous portions.

Wine? Yeah, I have three bottles in the cupboard.. I seem to have gone off wine completely.. Years ago I'd happily drink half bottle a night twice a week..

Never a great drinker me, at Uni I was always "the sensible one" and honestly happier for it.


 
Posted : 11/03/2019 2:45 pm
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The thing is, there is a big difference between drinking beer at say 3.7percent vs 5.5percent. If you are doing a session, then obviously the latter adds up - I don't know, I feel that the increase in strength of alcohol is very exponential.
I made the mistake once of throwing a couple of premium lagers into a drinking session and paid for it the next day with a banging headache.


 
Posted : 11/03/2019 2:56 pm
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The last time I got proper hammered was a couple of months ago when iDave stayed the night (sends his regards). Next morning we had a piece of toast and double espresso and a hard ride over Cannock Chase. I felt great after.


 
Posted : 11/03/2019 2:57 pm
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I drink enough now to legitimately tell doctors I don’t drink. Total for this year so far is a pint of IPA, only because the price of pop in bottles in a pub was extortionate.

I drank a fair bit at uni, not helped by working in a bar, but since then I’ve had less and less. Not because of any conscious decision, just never seem to fancy it anymore. Last time I had a hangover was June last year, after my stag do.

The last time I got proper hammered was a couple of months ago when iDave stayed the night (sends his regards).

How was his holiday?


 
Posted : 11/03/2019 3:00 pm
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Small glass of wine most nights with dinner. 1 bottle per week. No beer, cider, spirits or anything.


 
Posted : 11/03/2019 3:04 pm
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7-10 pints of 10 percent beesting at the Purple Turtle in Oxford is when I found my limit.

I consider that better than the long term habit I got into at my last place, which was on average a couple of beers in the apartments bar on a Wednesday followed by getting pretty merry on a Friday with mates and waking up hungover.


 
Posted : 11/03/2019 3:05 pm
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A bloke I knew went back to a friend's after a St Patrick's sesh in the pub. They saw off a bottle of scotch smartish between 3 of them. He passed out and his mates put him in a shopping trolley, got him home and into bed. The coroner said he was probably dead by the time they put him in the trolley. He was 28. It's the insult to the liver that does the trick. I was once usefully advised to only drink the drinks you can't see in the pub.


 
Posted : 11/03/2019 3:14 pm
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I'd been having a small can (330 ml) of IPA a night for the past 10 days or so until the weekend. At the same time I've been recording my resting heart rate whilst sleeping and its 3-4 bpm lower when I've not had a can.


 
Posted : 11/03/2019 3:17 pm
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Reminds me of Hague and his 14 pints claim

I remember it as well. He was much derided but was probably telling the truth. He worked on a brewery dray and back in those days you got a pint at every drop off, easily 7-8 pints. If you went out later with practise another 6-7 pints wouldn't be a problem.

I think if you drink to the point of getting a hangover the next day then that’s too much.

This works up to the point you stop getting hangovers, something that again only needs a bit of practise.


 
Posted : 11/03/2019 3:22 pm
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BiIIMC, that's unlucky for your mate! The LD50 for whisky in a 75kg individual is about .5 litres, you'd have to knock it back very quickly as well.


 
Posted : 11/03/2019 3:25 pm
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Still off it from last June, love being fresh every morning, even Monday's don't suck any more!.


 
Posted : 11/03/2019 3:29 pm
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iDave is fine now. I'm biased but the crap that he's had to deal with for the last few years ( non STW related) somewhat excuse his omissions.


 
Posted : 11/03/2019 3:31 pm
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I tend to fall into the category of having a pint a month (if that) and then once every 3 or 4 months having a bit of a session at social events or beer festivals. On Tuesday last week I had 5 pints and 2 glasses of red with food over a six hour period. It was a good night I didn't feel that drunk just a bit merry and woke up the next day feeling a little groggy but not really hungover, I was up early on my feet all day getting stuff done. But (and not for the first time after drinking) I felt depressed for two or three days, day two being particularly bad. Has anyone else had this? It's something that has only started to happen to me recently.


 
Posted : 11/03/2019 4:03 pm
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I'm pretty wary of it these days, I'd hate for it to become a crutch. I wonder sometimes how many people like to have a little drink most evenings, without really putting too much thought into how much they're really putting away a week, or indeed how much they rely on it. They can be disproportionally defensive about it too.

I was really surprised during the 'Beast from the East' last year how many people were panic buying wine and beer in the last shop open in town, it didn't even occur to me.

I'll admit to being a total lightweight drinker, my 'usual' intake is 2 660ml bottle of Lager on a Saturday night, well, every other Saturday night to be honest. I had 2 bottle of Brew Dog Lost Lager at the weekend, it was lovely. I was lightly pissed by the time I finished the second one, I woke fresh and ready to go again. I'm happy with that balance, I hate hangovers, the 1 or 2 times a year I really 'tie one on' it seems to last 2 full days and I always regret it - I can occasionally get the mix right and wake up 'okay'.


 
Posted : 11/03/2019 4:03 pm
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I don’t do it anymore.

My body already lets me down enough without giving it an excuse


 
Posted : 11/03/2019 4:08 pm
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I've never been able to drink much without getting awful hangovers. Any more than 4 pints and I feel groggy in the morning, another couple and I can be in bed throwing up all day. I do sometimes wonder if it's actually a allergy as I don't have to feel very drunk to be awful the next day.

I'm ok with wine though and can drink a bottle and feel fine.

Don't drink much these days though, probably not even once a week and a couple of glasses of wine or couple of bottles of beer, and because I like the taste, I very rarely drink to get drunk.

Shiftwork (with a very low drink-work limit) and a lifeboat pager aren't always that compatible with drinking too.


 
Posted : 11/03/2019 5:33 pm
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I'm going to have a beer tonight. Maybe more than one. These are on 4 for £6 in the local supermarket.

tonight's beer


 
Posted : 11/03/2019 5:37 pm
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Dry 2019 thus far. Shame really as I love beer, but I was aware I was probably drinking too much (too frequently anyway, I'd happily have a beer every day even if it was just the one) and also aware that I haven't really had any prolonged period without alchohol since about 1987. I hate hangovers, and I have become increasingly prone to bad ones as I've got older even after a couple of pints. I have plenty of cycling mates who can do a massive session then head out on the bike the day after, I can't imagine anything worse! 🙂


 
Posted : 11/03/2019 5:53 pm
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I used to work on passenger ships in the 90's.

The drinking culture was unbelievable. At all levels. Sailed with an alcoholic Captain. On the same ship the 2 duty engineers were both found asleep in the engine room, absolutely pissed.

Massive parties at all hours, no matter what watch you were working you could always find someone to go on the piss with.

I remember drinking a bottle of red for "brunch" when ashore, on more than one occasion.

In hindsight, how that thing got from A to B safely I will never know. It was good fun at the time but looking back it was borderline madness.


 
Posted : 11/03/2019 5:54 pm
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chatting with a riding buddy on Saturday – he said he was feeling ‘a little hungover’ after him and a pal drank a full bottle of Malt the night before, after a few beers each. Got me thinking !… No way could I do that and even get out my bed the next day. I do like whisky, and wine, and probably get through a bit more than the recommended 14 units max a week most/some weeks, but jeez, that sounds a heap to get through..

I rarely have more than 3 pints of an evening. Maybe a malt whisky 1 or 2 evenings a week. That's been about my limit for several years.

On the Bearbones Winter Bivvy trip in December, Rob and I polished off a bottle and half of malt - after I'd had 3 pints of beer. I hadn't even realised we'd drunk that much until I was tidying-up pre-bed at around 3am. I fully expected to suffer the next day.

I woke up feeling fine. had breakfast, set off to ride back home into freezing rain thinking "it's going to hit me any minute now". Got home, had a normal day, evening etc. No after-effects whatsoever. From this, I can only conclude that I should stick to whisky from now on!


 
Posted : 11/03/2019 5:56 pm
 kcal
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.. or only drink to that level outside and let the fresh air take care of the hangover?

[ for reference, I can attest that doesn't work, longest commute to Edinburgh from Glentress and asleep in some woods around Carlops, definitely a case of "where am I" when we woke up the next morning.. ]


 
Posted : 11/03/2019 6:17 pm
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Does it depend on whether you have company or not? I'd stopped for about 10yrs, until I seperated from my ex and started socialising again. A friend told me that they could only handle being around me when we were drunk, now I don't socialise but still drink to beat the boredom. I'll have a whisky or two a few nights a week and maybe a bottle of wine at the weekend. You're welcome to join me 😀


 
Posted : 11/03/2019 6:24 pm
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After abstaining from Jan 1 to March 1, I went out with mates and had 5 pints.  I felt shit all day the next day.

This weekend I had 2 pints indoors while watching the Rugby.  I felt shit the next day.

Right now any booze is too much for me to consider TBH.


 
Posted : 11/03/2019 6:52 pm
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We'll share a bottle of wine on the weekend nights, nothing the rest of the week. I struggle with beer these days - two or three pints is my maximum, I just feel bloated after any more and sometimes with that. We'll occasionally have a malt - we've two in the house ATM, bought them about six months ago and have 2/3rds of each left.

Got very drunk on Pernod when I was a teenager - it was over twenty years before I could even stomach the smell of it but haven't drunk any since then. Have had the one night getting drunk on whisky - that was enough.


 
Posted : 11/03/2019 7:10 pm
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After abstaining from Jan 1 to March 1, I went out with mates and had 5 pints.  I felt shit all day the next day.

This weekend I had 2 pints indoors while watching the Rugby.  I felt shit the next day.

Right now any booze is too much for me to consider TBH.

Maybe it's just beer? Wine/whisky/cider have much less of an after-effect on me than beer. Having said that, I was "allergic" to beer for a while. I did some research on it and it'snot that uncommon. I'd put it down to just not being able to handle alcohol but narrowed it down to just beer,


 
Posted : 11/03/2019 7:16 pm
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Last time I had a break from booze, I remember the feeling of the buzz of the alcohol after three pints and thinking this is a one hell of a powerful drug.
Like any drug though you develop a tolerance to it.


 
Posted : 11/03/2019 7:23 pm
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My problem is I seem to have a remarkably high tolerance for the stuff despite being a light drinker. I can quite happily get through 8 pints and umpteen hip flasks at SSUK and still be having a really good time (as opposed to becoming a liability). But then by Sunday morning I'm regretting being utterly unable to contemplate going for a ride which with hindsight I think would be just as enjoyable!

. or only drink to that level outside and let the fresh air take care of the hangover?

or you were still pissed..............

22 units of alcohol takes 22+1 hours to process, assuming you started drinking sometime after dinner, say 9, that means you wouldn't sober up until 8pm the next day (and that's average, it could be hours either way).

The trouble is you wake up more sober than you went to bed, and your body has no frame of reference as to how drunk you are, so you feel fine (probably better than fine, you're drunk! Pain tolerance is up, inhibitions are down etc). Which is why so many people crash or get pulled over for drink driving the morning after.


 
Posted : 11/03/2019 7:27 pm
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The most desperate tale on this thread is the one where iDave ate toast.
A truly tragic scenario.


 
Posted : 11/03/2019 7:56 pm