Everyone knows you shouldn’t drink and drive, even 1-2 drinks can slow you down. However most people would like to know just how many drinks translates into getting a DUI. It can be difficult to work out.
The new kid on the alcohol scene is the hard seltzer and Truly in particular. They don’t even taste alcoholic so more than a few can slip down in one sitting but can you drive after that? Can you drink White Claw and drive?
Can you drink Truly and drive? Will you get a DUI?
The drink driving limit is the same blood alcohol concentration to meet the legally drunk definition. The CDC states it takes the average 160lb adult male, 4 standard beers to get drunk. A standard beer is 12fl oz and 5% ABV which is the same as a Truly. Therefore around 4 Trulys would be enough to get a DUI.
Right at the outset of this article, i would like to point out you should not drink alcohol and drive and certainly not try to get right up to the limit. This is for informational purposes only and just to work a bit of math. Please take care out on the roads!
What is a standard beer?
Beers come in lots of different shapes, sizes and strengths. There is no point in me saying “standard beer” and you imagining some 12% Imperial Stout when i mean a 4% Lager.
Luckily for everyone, the USDA have devised a list of “standard” alcoholic drinks. Each one contains precisely the same amount of alcohol – 14g of alcohol (0.6 ounces).
Below is a list of the standard drinks, volumes and ABV that all give 14g of alcohol.
| Drink and volume | Alcohol content |
| 12fl oz Beer | 5% |
| 5fl oz Wine | 12% |
| 1.5fl oz Spirit | 40% |
So as you can see, a standard beer is a 12fl oz and 5% alcohol by volume beer, which has the same alcohol as 5fl oz of 12% wine and a 1.5fl oz shot of 40% spirit.
Is Truly the same as a Standard Beer?
In terms of alcohol and volume, Truly is exactly the same as a standard beer. They both are 12fl oz in volume and 5% alcohol by volume.
How many standard beers or Trulys to get drunk?
How many alcoholic beers or Trulys does the average adult need to drink to get to a BAC of 0.08% and drunk under the law?
The CDC tells us that the average 160lb adult male will need to drink 4 standard drinks, in this case Truly, to get to a BAC of 0.08%.
The answer is therefore, it would take 4 standard beers or Trulys to get drunk. These need to be drank over 1-2 hours however, as your liver will start breaking down the alcohol in your blood as soon as it encounters it.
Full article is here
What does drunk actually mean, what is the definition?
The DUI level is the same as the regular drunk level, but what exactly is that?
You could make a guess at what “drunk” means, we have all seen drunk people and know the signs, but do you know the exact definition? It needs to be a bit more precise than not walking too straight or slurring your words.
A blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.08% is classed as legally intoxicated in the US. This is also the DUI limit so we can use drunk/DUI for the rest of the article
We now need to see how many standard drinks would get your BAC to 0.08%. All it takes is a little bit of math
How does weight affect the number of Trulys to get drunk?
How much body mass and its composition plays a massive role on how quickly we get drunk. No doubt you will have noticed your smaller friends will likely get drunk quicker than your larger friends.
Alcohol is distributed throughout the body so if you have more actual body, less of the alcohol will remain in your bloodstream, lowering your blood alcohol concentration.
The table below shows how your weight can affect if it will take more or less than the usual 4 Trulys to get drunk rule.
| Number of Trulys | 140lbs | 160lbs | 180lbs | 200lbs | 220lbs |
| 1 | 0.03 | 0.02 | 0.02 | 0.02 | 0.02 |
| 2 | 0.05 | 0.05 | 0.04 | 0.04 | 0.03 |
| 3 | 0.08 | 0.07 | 0.06 | 0.06 | 0.05 |
| 4 | 0.11 | 0.09 | 0.08 | 0.08 | 0.07 |
| 5 | 0.13 | 0.12 | 0.11 | 0.09 | 0.09 |
How does sex affect the number of Trulys to get drunk?
Biological females need less alcohol to get drunk and get drunk quicker. This is due to a variety of reasons.
A females are usually smaller than males, they have around 40% less of an enzyme called alcohol dehydrogenase (the enzyme that breaks down alcohol) than an equivalent male and they have a higher percentage of fat to lean mass so more of the alcohol is in their bloodstream.
Below is a specific table for how many Trulys it would take a female to get drunk. Remember the magic number to be classified as drunk is 0.08% BAC. If you compare it to the take for males, you can see how much less they need to drink.
| Number of Trulys | 140lbs | 160lbs | 180lbs | 200lbs | 220lbs |
| 1 | 0.03 | 0.03 | 0.03 | 0.02 | 0.02 |
| 2 | 0.07 | 0.06 | 0.05 | 0.05 | 0.04 |
| 3 | 0.10 | 0.09 | 0.08 | 0.07 | 0.06 |
| 4 | 0.13 | 0.11 | 0.10 | 0.09 | 0.08 |
| 5 | 0.16 | 0.14 | 0.13 | 0.11 | 0.10 |
DUI in special circumstances
Most drivers come under the standard 0.08% BAC ruling (except 0.05% in Utah), however there are certain road users who must have lower blood alcohol levels under the law to be allowed to drive.
A commercial driver must have a BAC of under 0.04% and a level of 0.02-0.04% means they cant drive for 24hrs.
In all states there are zero tolerance laws meaning anything from 0.00-0.02% can be illegal if you are under 21 (the legal age to drink)
| Category of driver | Allowable BAC |
| Under 21 | Either 0 or <0.02% |
| Commercial | <0.04% |
| Over 21 | <0.08% |
To check out all the BAC limits by state, you can see my full article on it here
These would translate into much lower amounts of Truly
| Class of driver | Standard drink limit | Trulys |
| Over 21 | 4 | 4 |
| Commercial | 2 | 2 |
| Under 21 ZT | 0.5 or less | 0.5 or less |
