As you see, there is not much difference between 4% and 5%. 5% is just 1% more than 4%, but hey, there is a lot of difference in getting drunk.
As you’d expect, it has to do with our human bodies and how we process alcohol. Human bodies can process some of the alcohol continuously; this is known as units of alcohol. We can process about one unit of alcohol per hour.
Some calculation is needed to understand it: A 12-ounce beer of 4% strength contains about 1.4 alcohol units. Just imagine you’re drinking only one beer per hour (maybe you are not. but imagine). In that scenario, your body processes 1.0 units and leaves 0.4 to begin the gentle buzz. Then you have another beer in the next hour, your body handles another unit, and the excess adds up to 0.8. The next hour, you’re at 1.2 units excess.
Now, a 12-ounce beer of 5% strength has about 1.8 units. That leaves 0.8 after an hour of your body doing what it does. After another beer and another hour, you’re at 1.6. The next hour, you’re at 2.4-that’s double the excess alcohol, and it only continues to accumulate.
