The effect of a 'one for the road' drink of hard liquor, beer or wine on peak breath alcohol concentration in a social drinking environment with food consumption.

Thirteen healthy subjects (seven men and six women) participated in three drinking studies to examine the maximum increase of breath alcohol concentration (BrAC) and the time taken to reach the maximum BrAC (peak) after a subject finished a 'one for the road' drink in a social environment with food consumption. They consumed hard liquor in the first study, beer in the second and wine in the third. Each study consisted of two days. Day 1 served as a control in which the subjects were monitored by breath tests to establish their basic BrAC curves. Day 2 was a repeat of Day 1 with the addition of the final drink 'for the road' consumed by the subjects once their BrAC started to decline. The average increase in BrAC was 0.017 +/- 0.009% for hard liquor, 0.016 +/- 0.008% for beer, and 0.016 +/- 0.007% for wine. The average time to peak was 18 +/- 8 minutes for hard liquor, 16 +/- 2 minutes for beer, and 20 +/- 10 minutes for wine. The BrAC increase and the time to peak seemed to be independent of the type of alcoholic beverage consumed.