ServSafe Alcohol Primary and ServSafe Alcohol Advanced Study Guide for the ServSafe

Alcohol Intoxication

Understanding alcohol and how it affects people biologically helps a server discern a customer’s level of intoxication. Certain other factors can contribute to someone’s level of intoxication.

Alcohol and the Body

The type of alcohol we drink is known as beverage alcohol, or ethanol, which is created through fermentation and may then be distilled.

Fermentation occurs when yeast breaks down plants (like berries or fruits) or grains (like barley) and produces what is known as ethanol. Beers and wines are fermentations.
Distillation takes fermentations and distills them. This removes water from the alcohol and makes the alcohol stronger. Spirits such as vodka and whiskey are distilled.

Alcohol Strength

Understanding an alcohol’s strength, which varies by type, ensures you are properly counting customer’s drinks and tracking their levels of intoxication. Alcohol is measured by proof or ABV (Alcohol by Volume).

Proof indicates strength by dividing the proof by 2 to determine how much alcohol a liquor contains. For example, a 100 proof bottle of whiskey is 50% alcohol.
ABV (Alcohol by Volume) is the percentage that is alcohol. For example, a bottle of vodka that has an ABV of 40% means 40% of the liquid in that bottle is alcohol. Distilled spirits tend to range from an ABV of 20% for liqueurs and schnapps to 40% or higher for spirits (vodka, whiskey, rum).

Wine in the U.S. tends to have an ABV between 12-14%; however, some types of wine contain distilled spirits and they might have a higher than average ABV.

Beer tends to have an ABV between 4-6%, but some craft beers range from 2.5-15% ABV.

Alcohol in the Body

Alcohol travels through the body in much the same way as food. However, alcohol doesn’t require digestion to be absorbed into the bloodstream.

The Path

Alcohol enters the mouth and a small sum is immediately absorbed into the bloodstream. Alcohol continues into the stomach where some is absorbed into the bloodstream through the walls of the stomach. From there, alcohol travels into the small intestine where most of the alcohol is absorbed into the bloodstream. From the bloodstream, alcohol quickly moves through the body and gets to the brain within minutes.

Effects on the Body

Alcohol is a depressant, meaning it relaxes or minimizes brain activity. As a customer drinks, the areas of their brain that process major motor skills, coordination, memory, and judgement become impaired. Once alcohol impairs these brain areas, they don’t function as they usually would. This makes mundane tasks dangerous, such as driving.

Blood Alcohol Content

BAC (Blood Alcohol Content or Blood Alcohol Concentration) measures alcohol in the bloodstream. BAC is what percentage of a person’s blood is alcohol. Research says motor skills are considerably impacted at a BAC of .08. All 50 states (as of 2017) agree the legal intoxication limit for driving should be .08.

Factors in BAC

Some customers become impaired at lower BAC levels. It only takes a small BAC to affect the brain. A teaspoon of pure alcohol/ethanol in the bloodstream of a 150-pound male can result in a .08 BAC.

The more ABV in a drink, the more alcohol will be absorbed, so a whiskey drinker will have a higher BAC than a light beer drinker.
The rate of alcohol consumption matters. It takes the liver 60 minutes to remove one drink from the body, so someone drinking more drinks more quickly will have a higher BAC.
So does the person’s size. The more blood someone has, the more diluted alcohol becomes, so a larger person will have a lower BAC than a smaller person in terms of body size and body type.
Someone with more body mass will also have a lower BAC than someone smaller.
Women generally have a higher BAC than men because they have more body fat, a smaller amount of an enzyme known to break down alcohol, and are often smaller, meaning less blood to dilute the alcohol.
Older people will have a higher BAC because they have less of the known enzyme and more body fat.
Someone who hasn’t eaten or is dieting will have a higher BAC because food in the stomach slows the rate at which alcohol reaches the small intestine. The faster alcohol passes through the gut the faster the intoxication.
Carbonated drinks will result in a higher BAC because carbonation increases the rate at which alcohol moves from the stomach to the small intestine.

Excessive Consumption

Motor skills, coordination, memory, and judgement worsen when a customer’s BAC exceeds .08. For example, someone with a BAC of .30 or higher might experience a coma or even death. Therefore, excessive consumption and binge drinking is quite dangerous.

How Alcohol Is Removed

The only thing that can truly process alcohol in the bloodstream and sober you up is the liver. The liver processes alcohol at a rate of around one drink per hour, assuming it’s a healthy liver. Sick or damaged livers might break down alcohol more slowly.

Food and Alcohol Absorption

Any food is better than no food when it comes to keeping alcohol in the stomach as long as possible, but high-fat foods like pizza, chicken wings, nachos, and fried items, and high-protein items like meat, fish, and eggs are best because they take longer to digest. Easily digested foods like bread and pasta, and salty foods that make you thirsty like peanuts, pretzels, and chips, are not best because they aren’t as effective at slowing alcohol absorption and may actually make you drink more.

Other Intoxication Factors

Some risk factors require you to keep a closer eye on your customer, such as:

customers experiencing stress, fatigue, depression, or anger
someone taking medications or illegal drugs while drinking, leading to dangerous drug-alcohol interactions and intensified effects
customers suffering from illness or disease (which is hard to know, but sometimes customers might disclose they are transplant recipients or have illnesses like cirrhosis or diabetes)
customers intent on getting intoxicated (like drinking to forget sadness, death, or a funeral, drinking to celebrate a special night, drinking with friends, or drinking during a sporting event)

These factors are risks for intoxication and should be monitored to prevent incidents. Listening to customers while they drink is a best practice to help better identify these issues. A combination of any of the above risk factors puts customers in even more danger and they should be watched carefully.

Intoxication Level

When you recognize one or more intoxication factors in a customer, that customer should be watched carefully to prevent over-service. Customers should be watched from the time they sit down (so you have a point of reference) until the time they leave (to watch for behavioral changes). Servers should learn how to assess a customer’s intoxication level because liability begins with their first drink and continues even after they leave. If you are concerned at any time, it’s your responsibility to inform management and appropriate staff, and to end service.

Counting Drinks

Counting drinks is a way to monitor intoxication levels. In order to count drinks properly you must understand what qualifies as one drink.

Equivalent Drinks

One standard drink varies depending on the type of alcohol, but the following are counted as one drink:

5 oz. of wine (12% ABV)
12 oz. of beer (5% ABV)
1.5 oz. of 80-proof liquor (40% ABV)
1 oz. of 100-proof liquor (50% ABV)

Some wine, beer, and beverages have a higher ABV so they are counted differently. Some drinks equate to several standard drinks due to their size, such as:

A tall hurricane glass of mixed drink (like a frozen cocktail) could equate to 3 drinks
A stemmed glass of mixed drink (like a piña colada) could equate to 2 drinks

Calculating Drinks

The amount of liquor in a drink divided by the amount of liquor in one standard drink equals the number of drinks in a beverage, for example:

3 oz. of 80-proof scotch divided by 1.5 oz. of 80-proof liquor in a standard drink = 2 drinks

The 3 oz. glass of 80-proof scotch your customer ordered means they actually got 2 standard drinks.

Another example involves one 16 oz. beer:

If it is 5% ABV divided by 12 oz. of beer (at 5% ABV) being a standard drink = 1.33 drinks.

If you’ve served your customer three 16-ounce beers, they’ve really had almost four standard drinks, not three.

Mixed Drinks

Mixed drinks usually have multiple liquors with different ABVs, so counting them can be tricky, but most establishments make calculations for you to follow for each drink they offer. It’s a best practice to round up when counting drinks, just to be safe.

Estimating Blood Alcohol Level (BAC)

Estimating BAC helps when deciding whether or not to continue serving a customer. To estimate a customer’s BAC, count how many standard drinks they’ve had, guess their weight, and use a BAC chart, like one of the ones shown here:

Limits to BAC Chart Use

BAC chart estimations are reasonably accurate but a customer’s actual BAC may be higher or lower than the chart details. Prior drinking, physical condition, emotional state, and medications taken are unknown factors that also affect a customer’s BAC, so BAC charts are only a reference tool.

Tracking Drink Counts

To more accurately assess a customer’s BAC, you need to know how many drinks they’ve had. Tracking drinks can help you monitor your customers.

Drink-Tracking Challenges

Using a tally sheet, making tick marks on a coaster or napkin, updating the customer’s receipt with each order, using your point-of-sale system, or marking the back of a guest check are ways you can track counted drinks. However, situations like bottle service (where customers mix their own drinks), or tableside dispensers (where they serve themselves) can make it hard to track. Establishments who offer self-service should have procedures to track drinks like assigning a host to monitor tables. Overpouring (adding more liquor than needed) also makes it hard to track drinks, so always follow drink recipes, and use the correct measurements and glass size.

Observing Guests

Customers should be observed for changes in voice volume, mood, or balance. Talk to each customer to observe when:

their inhibitions relax (they become overly friendly, unfriendly, depressed, or quiet; they become loud, make rude comments, or use foul language)
their judgement becomes impaired (they begin complaining about drink strength, begin drinking faster or switch to larger or stronger drinks, make irrational or argumentative statements, or become careless with money)
their reaction time slows (they talk or move slowly, lose concentration, train of thought, or become forgetful; they become drowsy, glassy eyed, or unable to keep focus and keep eye contact)
their motor coordination changes (they stagger, stumble, fall, bump into things, sway when moving, drop things or are unable to pick things up, spill drinks or miss their mouth, or slur their speech)

Keep in mind, experienced drinkers can drink a lot and show no signs, but tolerance to alcohol does not affect someone’s BAC. Inexperienced drinkers often show signs after only a small amount of alcohol.

Preventing Intoxication

The most important thing you can do in alcohol service is prevent your customers from becoming intoxicated. This can be tricky, but there are subtle ways you can prevent intoxication and still provide good service.

Things to Offer Guests

Offer customers water (to keep them hydrated and possibly reduce the amount of alcohol they drink) and keep water glasses filled.
Offer them food (because food slows the movement of alcohol from the stomach to the small intestines and bloodstream) that’s high in fat or protein. Avoid carbohydrates and salty items.
Offer nonalcoholic drinks (to keep customers engaged) as an alternative.

Liquor Measurement

Measuring drinks properly prevents overpouring which prevents intoxication. Jiggers (which measure alcohol in ounces), mechanical pour spouts (which control how fast the alcohol pours), and technology-equipped pour spouts that attach to your point-of-sale (POS) system help measure drinks as well as control inventory levels. If you are required to free pour (meaning you will not use a jigger), you should be trained properly by management in order to pour accurately, and your accuracy should be checked often by a pour test.

Drink Limits

Some businesses employ the use of drink limits to slow drinking which in turn helps reduce intoxication. For example, your establishment might have a 2 drinks per customer per hour limit.