I might be drinking too much, erm...

[Grape Expectations]

I just worked out I made 210 Liters (of syphoned wine) in the last 398 days. That's taking off the 11L I have in bottles right now. I have never given away any of it, so I know I drank it all myself in that time. I always make my wine up around 16% to 18% ABV. I make it as strong as I can.

That works out to 528ml of wine per day on average. Since a glass that's around 180ml is 3 units of alcohol, that averages out to 2.93 glasses per day or, 8.8 units per day. Per week that's about 62 units. This is 4.4 times more than the recommended amount.

Now they say 14 units per week, but that is about the amount I would drink to get drunk once. I guess what they are saying then, is you can get quite drunk once per week.

I'm not bragging about this but I have gone 20 days in a row drinking 14 units each night.

I guess drinking this much, you can get away with it for a time, but I really need to cut back I guess.

How do I know I'm not an alcoholic? Well because I always assumed alcoholics wake up and they hit the bottle right away, they wake up, drink, are drunk within 1 hour and drink all day until they go to sleep and repeat the same routine the following day, every single day. I'm not doing that. I don't drink until quite late on in the evening like 9 PM and that's from waking up at say 7 AM. Still, I know I am drinking about 4 or 5 times the "recommended" amount, but I think perhaps a lot of people do. It gets to the point where you get accustomed to it and don't really get hangovers anymore.

Winemaking is fun but I wonder if there's any "dangers" ever addressed about it - mainly that making your own wine is 4 times cheaper than buying (often inferior!) supermarket wine. I mean it's costing me about £1.40 a bottle to make, which is insane since it's £6+ for a bottle from the supermarket. Also theirs tends to be 10.5% to 13% strength... I'm making it vastly stronger at around 16% to 18%.

Oh well.

 

[MrFrench]

Im no professional but it seems to me like justifying consumption of a large quantity of alcohol on the basis of cost is symptomatic of excusing a problem.

You probably already know it’s time to cut back, and you’re taking steps to coming to terms with that (admission).

Wine making is fun but let’s not turn it into a problem. What is it they used to say ‘never get high on your own supply’

 

[Sailor323]

In 2020 I made 72 gallons of wine and in 2021 I made 120 gallons. I've slowed down considerable since the cellar is full and generally do one kit a month now.

 

[wood1954]

I would think you’re drinking too much. I know I wrestle with the same problem because it seems so benign, how can drinking wine in the evening be bad?
My wine is generally around 12% so I feel I can drink a bit more, but usually stick to about 375 ml per day, I’m more worried about my liver. My brain is already shot. Just because you don’t get hangovers doesn’t mean it’s safe. After all alcohol is a poison and should be treated carefully. Do you like wine or getting drunk cheap? If you actually like wine try making lower alcohol wine. If you just like getting drunk, then cheap vodka is probably more cost effective.

 

[wrongway]

Well its kinda in the eye of the beholder! Ya maybe a bit excessive but on the other hand, What would you be doing if you wasn't making wine??? Something even more dangerous like Drag Racing, Chasing Girls, Sky Diving, Jumping off the garage roof with a trash bag as a parachute??

 

[utopia2]

Hi, I’m the odd guy out. I make approx 4 barrels of wine a season. All red wines because my wife drinks red wine. I have a couple of friends that have home vineyards with a 150 vines each and I will buy a 1/2 ton also. I started to compete in the home wine makers competitions in the State and some counties, and have done well. To make a long story longer…lol I don’t drink or taste my wines. I’m not a drinker of any type it doesn’t appeal to me. But the wine process is interesting to me. When someone taste my wine and says this is good that’s my reward. Now my wife my drink a bottle a night she’s good with it… Thanks for letting me share

 

[utopia2]

Well its kinda in the eye of the beholder! Ya maybe a bit excessive but on the other hand, What would you be doing if you wasn't making wine??? Something even more dangerous like Drag Racing, Chasing Girls, Sky Diving, Jumping off the garage roof with a trash bag as a parachute??

Your right, I have dragged race in the 70’s, I’m on my 3rd marriage and have fallen of the roof..lol but no skydiving. I love the fact of making wine and learning how to make the process better..

 

[winemanden]

Most of the time, my wife and I have a glass with our evening meal, with a glass or a tasting in between times. That's not a lot, I know, but we're happy with it.
I did read in a wine magazine years ago, the head of one of the top Sherry houses in Spain said, that he drank a bottle of Sherry a day, except for when he was feeling a bit under the weather, then he drank two bottles.
I assume he took it with a pinch of salt!

 

[Christopher Anderson]

I am not an alcoholic: I am a drunk. alcoholics go to meetings. Bogart.

 

[Christopher Anderson]

All the English words that can be synonyms for “drunk” (there are more than you think).
The Vocabulary of Drunkenness
Some examples: balmy; bamboozled; basted; battered; behind the cork; bent; biggy, edged; elevated; embalmed, half-cocked; hal3r-corned; half-crocked; half-screwed, and one of my favorites: vulcanized.
It is estimated that the word drunk is the most synonymostic

https://qcpages.qc.cuny.edu/~hlevine/Vocabulary-of-Drunkenness-Levine.pdf

 

[Obbnw]

I just worked out I made 210 Liters (of syphoned wine) in the last 398 days. That's taking off the 11L I have in bottles right now. I have never given away any of it, so I know I drank it all myself in that time. I always make my wine up around 16% to 18% ABV. I make it as strong as I can.

That works out to 528ml of wine per day on average. Since a glass that's around 180ml is 3 units of alcohol, that averages out to 2.93 glasses per day or, 8.8 units per day. Per week that's about 62 units. This is 4.4 times more than the recommended amount.

Now they say 14 units per week, but that is about the amount I would drink to get drunk once. I guess what they are saying then, is you can get quite drunk once per week.

I'm not bragging about this but I have gone 20 days in a row drinking 14 units each night.

I guess drinking this much, you can get away with it for a time, but I really need to cut back I guess.

How do I know I'm not an alcoholic? Well because I always assumed alcoholics wake up and they hit the bottle right away, they wake up, drink, are drunk within 1 hour and drink all day until they go to sleep and repeat the same routine the following day, every single day. I'm not doing that. I don't drink until quite late on in the evening like 9 PM and that's from waking up at say 7 AM. Still, I know I am drinking about 4 or 5 times the "recommended" amount, but I think perhaps a lot of people do. It gets to the point where you get accustomed to it and don't really get hangovers anymore.

Winemaking is fun but I wonder if there's any "dangers" ever addressed about it - mainly that making your own wine is 4 times cheaper than buying (often inferior!) supermarket wine. I mean it's costing me about £1.40 a bottle to make, which is insane since it's £6+ for a bottle from the supermarket. Also theirs tends to be 10.5% to 13% strength... I'm making it vastly stronger at around 16% to 18%.

Oh well.

I do think having a "free" (my cost excluding my time is probably about $0.50/bottle) supply of wine makes it more likely I will drink more than I like to admit.

I started bottling in beer bottles and 375 mm bottles. That has helped.
Having a glass a water with dinner also helps.

 

[winemanden]

All the English words that can be synonyms for “drunk” (there are more than you think).
The Vocabulary of Drunkenness
Some examples: balmy; bamboozled; basted; battered; behind the cork; bent; biggy, edged; elevated; embalmed, half-cocked; hal3r-corned; half-crocked; half-screwed, and one of my favorites: vulcanized.
It is estimated that the word drunk is the most synonymostic

https://qcpages.qc.cuny.edu/~hlevine/Vocabulary-of-Drunkenness-Levine.pdf

They say "Pissed as a Fart" round here, which makes as much sense as saying someone very slim is "Thinner than a rasher of Wind"!

 

[CallmeDave]

Life is so unpredictable and a crapshoot. I know healthy people who lived "healthy" lifestyles and pass away early. I've also met people who drink or smoke (Cigarettes or weed) everyday and they're still kicking it. If you think it's a problem, definitely cut back. If your bills are paid off, you're meeting your obligations and don't have general problems such as absenteeism or anger episodes, etc, etc, drink on, cheers. Not saying alcohol is healthy... but we all have our own demons/unhealthy habits such as eating junk food, not exercising enough, sitting all day watching tv, smoking etc etc and the rare person who does live an extremely healthy lifestyle, they're not immune to problems in life or even death.

 

[wineview]

I just worked out I made 210 Liters (of syphoned wine) in the last 398 days. That's taking off the 11L I have in bottles right now. I have never given away any of it, so I know I drank it all myself in that time. I always make my wine up around 16% to 18% ABV. I make it as strong as I can.

That works out to 528ml of wine per day on average. Since a glass that's around 180ml is 3 units of alcohol, that averages out to 2.93 glasses per day or, 8.8 units per day. Per week that's about 62 units. This is 4.4 times more than the recommended amount.

Now they say 14 units per week, but that is about the amount I would drink to get drunk once. I guess what they are saying then, is you can get quite drunk once per week.

I'm not bragging about this but I have gone 20 days in a row drinking 14 units each night.

I guess drinking this much, you can get away with it for a time, but I really need to cut back I guess.

How do I know I'm not an alcoholic? Well because I always assumed alcoholics wake up and they hit the bottle right away, they wake up, drink, are drunk within 1 hour and drink all day until they go to sleep and repeat the same routine the following day, every single day. I'm not doing that. I don't drink until quite late on in the evening like 9 PM and that's from waking up at say 7 AM. Still, I know I am drinking about 4 or 5 times the "recommended" amount, but I think perhaps a lot of people do. It gets to the point where you get accustomed to it and don't really get hangovers anymore.

Winemaking is fun but I wonder if there's any "dangers" ever addressed about it - mainly that making your own wine is 4 times cheaper than buying (often inferior!) supermarket wine. I mean it's costing me about £1.40 a bottle to make, which is insane since it's £6+ for a bottle from the supermarket. Also theirs tends to be 10.5% to 13% strength... I'm making it vastly stronger at around 16% to 18%.

Oh well.

Doctor recommendations are no more than 14 drinks per week for a male. Do you think you are over that number?

 

[Hazelemere]

I just worked out I made 210 Liters (of syphoned wine) in the last 398 days. That's taking off the 11L I have in bottles right now. I have never given away any of it, so I know I drank it all myself in that time. I always make my wine up around 16% to 18% ABV. I make it as strong as I can.

That works out to 528ml of wine per day on average. Since a glass that's around 180ml is 3 units of alcohol, that averages out to 2.93 glasses per day or, 8.8 units per day. Per week that's about 62 units. This is 4.4 times more than the recommended amount.

Now they say 14 units per week, but that is about the amount I would drink to get drunk once. I guess what they are saying then, is you can get quite drunk once per week.

I'm not bragging about this but I have gone 20 days in a row drinking 14 units each night.

I guess drinking this much, you can get away with it for a time, but I really need to cut back I guess.

How do I know I'm not an alcoholic? Well because I always assumed alcoholics wake up and they hit the bottle right away, they wake up, drink, are drunk within 1 hour and drink all day until they go to sleep and repeat the same routine the following day, every single day. I'm not doing that. I don't drink until quite late on in the evening like 9 PM and that's from waking up at say 7 AM. Still, I know I am drinking about 4 or 5 times the "recommended" amount, but I think perhaps a lot of people do. It gets to the point where you get accustomed to it and don't really get hangovers anymore.

Winemaking is fun but I wonder if there's any "dangers" ever addressed about it - mainly that making your own wine is 4 times cheaper than buying (often inferior!) supermarket wine. I mean it's costing me about £1.40 a bottle to make, which is insane since it's £6+ for a bottle from the supermarket. Also theirs tends to be 10.5% to 13% strength... I'm making it vastly stronger at around 16% to 18%.

Oh well.

If you are drinking too much alcohol then your liver is making acetaldehyde which is not good for your body. Meidas Touch has a sponsor that sells an enzyme beverage (non-alcoholic) that can break down acetaldehyde.

 

[mainshipfred]

I prefer wine with food and have a glass with dinner 4-5 maybe 6 times a week. After dinner I may pour a may small glass but more than likely I'm an alcohol abuser and pour most of it down the drain. Like others, I think I enjoy the process more than drinking it.

 

[Jusatele]

there are years I make a lot more wine than I can drink, and years a lot less

as far as consuming, there are weeks I can consume 4 liters, and others one, and all combinations in between. But my average is nowhere near the high end. As far as healthy lifestyles, I have seen that definition change a lot over the last 66 years, some pro and some down on alcohol consumption. But I keep reading where red wine is good for you. so who knows

 

[denky28]

I just worked out I made 210 Liters (of syphoned wine) in the last 398 days. That's taking off the 11L I have in bottles right now. I have never given away any of it, so I know I drank it all myself in that time. I always make my wine up around 16% to 18% ABV. I make it as strong as I can.

That works out to 528ml of wine per day on average. Since a glass that's around 180ml is 3 units of alcohol, that averages out to 2.93 glasses per day or, 8.8 units per day. Per week that's about 62 units. This is 4.4 times more than the recommended amount.

Now they say 14 units per week, but that is about the amount I would drink to get drunk once. I guess what they are saying then, is you can get quite drunk once per week.

I'm not bragging about this but I have gone 20 days in a row drinking 14 units each night.

I guess drinking this much, you can get away with it for a time, but I really need to cut back I guess.

How do I know I'm not an alcoholic? Well because I always assumed alcoholics wake up and they hit the bottle right away, they wake up, drink, are drunk within 1 hour and drink all day until they go to sleep and repeat the same routine the following day, every single day. I'm not doing that. I don't drink until quite late on in the evening like 9 PM and that's from waking up at say 7 AM. Still, I know I am drinking about 4 or 5 times the "recommended" amount, but I think perhaps a lot of people do. It gets to the point where you get accustomed to it and don't really get hangovers anymore.

Winemaking is fun but I wonder if there's any "dangers" ever addressed about it - mainly that making your own wine is 4 times cheaper than buying (often inferior!) supermarket wine. I mean it's costing me about £1.40 a bottle to make, which is insane since it's £6+ for a bottle from the supermarket. Also theirs tends to be 10.5% to 13% strength... I'm making it vastly stronger at around 16% to 18%.

Oh well.

I think

I just worked out I made 210 Liters (of syphoned wine) in the last 398 days. That's taking off the 11L I have in bottles right now. I have never given away any of it, so I know I drank it all myself in that time. I always make my wine up around 16% to 18% ABV. I make it as strong as I can.

That works out to 528ml of wine per day on average. Since a glass that's around 180ml is 3 units of alcohol, that averages out to 2.93 glasses per day or, 8.8 units per day. Per week that's about 62 units. This is 4.4 times more than the recommended amount.

Now they say 14 units per week, but that is about the amount I would drink to get drunk once. I guess what they are saying then, is you can get quite drunk once per week.

I'm not bragging about this but I have gone 20 days in a row drinking 14 units each night.

I guess drinking this much, you can get away with it for a time, but I really need to cut back I guess.

How do I know I'm not an alcoholic? Well because I always assumed alcoholics wake up and they hit the bottle right away, they wake up, drink, are drunk within 1 hour and drink all day until they go to sleep and repeat the same routine the following day, every single day. I'm not doing that. I don't drink until quite late on in the evening like 9 PM and that's from waking up at say 7 AM. Still, I know I am drinking about 4 or 5 times the "recommended" amount, but I think perhaps a lot of people do. It gets to the point where you get accustomed to it and don't really get hangovers anymore.

Winemaking is fun but I wonder if there's any "dangers" ever addressed about it - mainly that making your own wine is 4 times cheaper than buying (often inferior!) supermarket wine. I mean it's costing me about £1.40 a bottle to make, which is insane since it's £6+ for a bottle from the supermarket. Also theirs tends to be 10.5% to 13% strength... I'm making it vastly stronger at around 16% to 18%.

Oh well.

The books "The Good News About Booze" and "The Very Good News About Wine" both by Tony Edwards give excellent data for you to gage this. Bottom line is up to a bottle a night you have about the same 'all cause mortality' as a non-drinker.

 

[Snafflebit]

Timely thread for me. I have also wondered sometimes am I drinking too much. Sharing a bottle of wine sometimes turns into two bottles divided over two people in our house if we are having a good time. And I have noticed my body not recovering as fast anymore. I won’t say I am an alcoholic, but I have caught myself wanting a drink out of nowhere. Dry January helps reset my body.

I have sort of reconciled by insisting on not drinking bad wine anymore and pouring plonk down the drain.

 

[denky28]

Have a look at the attached chart from the aforementioned books. In my opinion, the danger, at least for red wine, is not as much as some are supposing and the health benefits are pretty cool! I wouldn't get too worried about it. You'll spend your entire life trying to keep everything, wine consumption, relationships, work, expenditures, between the rails and not trying to overdo it one way or the other. Just enjoy the ride and when you feel yourself doing it a little too often make your way back to some semblance of moderation. You definitely don't want to eliminate reaching for that second bottle when the moment is right with your friends or your girl, that's the best part.