Disclaimer

This is information, not advice

KnownAlcohol publishes general reference information about drinks, how they are made and served, what published rules say, and what alcohol does to the body. It does not give legal, medical, or safety advice to any individual, because giving advice requires knowing the situation and we do not know yours.

The distinction is not a formality. "The legal purchase age in this state is 21" is information. "You can serve this at your event" is advice, and it depends on your licence, your venue, your guests, and a dozen things this site cannot see.

Nothing here clears you to drive

This is the most important line on the page. No calculator, table, or article on this site can tell you that you are unimpaired, below a legal limit, or able to drive, operate machinery, swim, work at height, supervise a child or a dependent adult, or make any other safety critical decision.

Blood alcohol and impairment vary widely between people, and in the same person on different days. Body composition, sex, age, liver function, medication, food, illness, hydration, sleep, and pace all move the result, and nothing measurable from a web page captures that variation.

Three further points that people are routinely wrong about:

• Impairment begins below every legal driving limit. Being under a limit is not the same as being unaffected, and reaction time and judgement degrade before any limit is reached.
• Only time reduces alcohol in the body. Coffee, a cold shower, food after the fact, exercise, and fresh air change how awake you feel and not how much alcohol is in you. Feeling more alert is not the same as being less affected, and it is a dangerous thing to mistake.
• Alcohol from a heavy night can still be present the next morning. People are charged after breakfast, having slept, feeling fine.

If you have been drinking, arrange another way home. See the responsible use policy for how this rule is enforced automatically rather than merely promised.

Medical matters

Alcohol interacts with many medicines and affects existing conditions in ways specific to the person. This site cannot assess you. Talk to a pharmacist, doctor, or other qualified clinician about your own health, your own medication, and your own drinking. A pharmacist will answer a medication interaction question without an appointment, which makes them the fastest useful answer for that particular question.

No amount of alcohol has been shown to be safe in pregnancy. We do not present alcohol as a health product, a sleep aid, a stress treatment, or a heart health measure.

Legal matters

Alcohol law is set by jurisdiction and changes frequently. Where this site states a rule it names the jurisdiction, the authority, the reference, and the date it was last verified, and where any of those is missing the page says so instead of stating the rule.

Even a verified page is general information about a published rule, not advice about your situation, and it may have changed since the date shown. Rules also interact: a state rule, a county rule, a licence condition, and a venue policy can all apply at once, and a page about one of them is not a statement about the others. Confirm the current position with the named authority, or with a lawyer licensed where you are, before acting on it.

Coverage is uneven. A jurisdiction not covered here is a gap in this site, not a statement that no rule exists there.

Production and preparation

Production content describes processes carried out in licensed commercial facilities, and names the hazards so readers understand what those processes involve. It is not an instruction to attempt them.

Distilling spirits without the relevant licence is a criminal offence in many jurisdictions and carries genuine fire, pressure, and poisoning risk, so we do not publish instructions for it.

For recipes and service methods, you are responsible for safe handling, hygiene, equipment use, allergen checks, and the law where you are. Allergen information in particular: ingredients and formulations change, and the label in your hand is authoritative over any list here.

Products, prices, and ratings

This site covers categories, styles, methods, and verified product facts. It does not publish tasting scores, rankings, awards, or prices, because those require retained evidence of actual product access and a disclosed method.

If you see a claim of that kind here, it is an error. Report it.

What an estimate here is worth

Estimates on this site are arithmetic on numbers you supply, and they are only as good as those numbers and the assumptions printed beside them.

• A strength estimate for a mixed drink depends on dilution, and dilution varies with ice, technique, and time. The same recipe made twice is not the same drink twice.
• A bottle's stated ABV has a legal tolerance, so the real figure is a small range.
• A standard drink count depends on which country's unit is used, and they differ by substantial amounts. Any tool here says which one it applied.
• A free pour is not a measure. Estimates assume you poured what you said you poured.

None of that makes the numbers useless. It makes them estimates, which is what they are labelled.

Accuracy

We work to keep this accurate and we correct errors when they are found. We do not guarantee that every page is complete or current at the moment you read it. Where accuracy matters to a decision you are making, check the primary source we cite, that is why the reference is printed rather than merely linked.

Where to take each question instead