How Many Carbs Are in Alcohol? Beer, Wine, Spirits

By the DrinkLeader team · Published 2026-09-26 · Data updated 2026-09-26 · 7 min read

Alcohol itself has no carbohydrate, so plain spirits such as vodka, gin, whiskey, tequila and rum have about 0g of carbs per serving. Beer, wine, cider, liqueurs and mixed drinks pick up carbs from grain, fruit, added sugar and mixers. In the DrinkLeader catalog, beer averages 13.1g per serving and wine 4.7g, while hard seltzer averages 2.3g.

Why spirits have no carbs and other drinks do

Ethanol, the alcohol in every alcoholic drink, is not a carbohydrate. It is produced when yeast ferments sugar. Distilled spirits are made by heating a fermented liquid and collecting the alcohol vapor, which leaves the remaining sugars and starches behind. The result is mostly ethanol and water, which is why unflavored vodka, gin, tequila, rum and whiskey sit at or near zero carbs.

Beer and wine are fermented but not distilled, so some unfermented sugars and other carbohydrates stay in the glass. Cider and sweet wines keep more. Liqueurs are spirits with sugar deliberately added, and cocktails add juice, soda, syrup or sweet vermouth. That is where the grams come from.

Carbs by type in the catalog

The table below averages every alcoholic drink of each type in our database, per listed serving. Serving sizes differ (a beer is usually 12oz, a spirit 1.5oz), so read the figures as "per typical serving" rather than per volume of liquid.

Spirits: near zero, with flavored exceptions

Vodka, gin, whiskey, tequila and rum all average under a gram. The exceptions are flavored or sweetened bottles. The highest vodka in the catalog lists 8.0g and the highest whiskey 12.0g, and those rows are flavored or sweetened products. If the label says flavored, sweet or liqueur-style, expect carbs.

Beer: the widest spread

Beer ranges from 1.0g to 43.7g per serving in our data. Light and low-carb beers sit near the bottom, while stouts, malt beverages and flavored beers sit far above. Read our guide to the lowest-carb beers for specifics. Some catalog entries list a larger serving (for example a 16.9oz bottle), which raises the carbs per serving.

Wine: mostly dry and modest, sweet wines climb

Wine averages 4.7g per listed serving, with 209 of 259 wines at 5g or under. Dessert and sweet wines are the high end. Sugar left after fermentation is the main driver, so drier styles generally come in lower.

Hard seltzer: consistently low

Hard seltzer averages 2.3g, and 291 of 298 products in the catalog list 5g or less. That consistency is why seltzer shows up so often on low-carb lists.

Liqueurs, ciders and canned cocktails: sugar decides

Liqueurs average 9.8g per serving and hard ciders 20.5g. Canned cocktails average 13.7g but run from 0.0g to 120.0g, depending on whether the base is a spirit with soda or a sweet, juice-heavy recipe. Only 5 of 93 ciders come in at 5g of carbs or less.

Common misunderstandings

"Zero carbs" does not mean zero calories

A zero-carb spirit still delivers calories from alcohol. The catalog averages for whiskey (109 calories) and vodka (95) come almost entirely from ethanol at 1.5oz.

Higher ABV does not mean more carbs

Spirits are the strongest drinks in the table, at roughly 38% to 44% ABV on average, and also the lowest in carbs. Carbs track sugar, not strength. Hard seltzer, beer and cider sit around 5% ABV, yet their carbs differ a lot.

Mixers can outweigh the spirit

A vodka soda and a vodka with a sweetened mixer start from the same spirit. The difference is the mixer. If you order a mixed drink, ask what is in it, or look for a ready-to-drink option with the carbs listed, such as the canned cocktails table above.

Different serving sizes are not comparable at a glance

A carb figure only means something next to its serving. A 1.5oz shot with 0g and a 12oz beer with 12g are compared per serving here, not per ounce, which matches how people order.

Calories versus carbs

Carbs are only part of the calorie picture. Alcohol itself supplies roughly 7 calories per gram, compared with about 4 per gram for carbohydrate, so a zero-carb spirit still has calories. The NIAAA defines a US standard drink as about 14 grams (0.6 fluid ounces) of pure alcohol, which is 12 fl oz of 5% beer, 5 fl oz of 12% wine or 1.5 fl oz of 40% spirits. That is why the average vodka above shows about 95 calories with almost no carbs.

How to keep carbs low when you drink

• Choose a plain distilled spirit and pair it with soda water, or a zero-sugar mixer, rather than juice, tonic or cola. Regular tonic water contains sugar.
• Skip liqueurs, sweet vermouth, syrups and pre-mixed margarita or daiquiri styles unless the label lists carbs.
• Compare the serving size. A 16.9oz beer and a 12oz beer are not equivalent.
• Use the zero-carb list or the keto rankings to pick specific products.

This page is information, not medical advice. The CDC defines moderate drinking as up to two drinks a day for men and one for women when adults choose to drink.