ServSafe Alcohol Practice Exam

If a guest has consumed three 12-ounce beers in an hour, how many drinks are in their bloodstream?

1. 0

2. 1

3. 2

4. 3

The correct answer is: 2

To determine how many drinks are in a person’s bloodstream after consuming three 12-ounce beers in an hour, it is important to consider the principles of alcohol absorption and metabolism. Each 12-ounce beer typically contains about 0.54 ounces of pure alcohol. When a person consumes three beers, the total amount of alcohol ingested would be roughly 1.62 ounces. The body metabolizes alcohol at a rate of about 0.5 ounces per hour on average, though this can vary based on numerous factors, such as individual metabolism, body weight, and overall health. After one hour of drinking three beers, the body has not yet metabolized all of the alcohol consumed, leading to the presence of a significant amount of alcohol in the bloodstream. In general terms, it can take about one hour for the body to process approximately one drink. Consequently, after consuming three beers in one hour, it can be inferred that there would still be a substantial amount of alcohol—equivalent to about two drinks—remaining in the bloodstream at that time. Therefore, based on the calculations and typical metabolic rates, indicating that there are two drinks worth of alcohol in the bloodstream after this consumption is accurate.