Science Proves We Feel Different Emotions After Drinking Wine, Liquor and Beer

A new study has discovered what I’ve known since college: The type of alcohol you choose to drink can change your mood.

A group of UK researchers recently took a look at the types of alcohol people drink and the emotions that what they imbibe typically bring. Beyond just trivia, the idea is that if they can determine what emotions a particular alcohol enhances, we can determine why some people become dependent on certain types of alcohol.

The study looked at 30,000 people aged 18 to 34 in 21 different countries. Here’s what they found:

Wine
53% of participants in the study said that red wine made them feel relaxed. In fact, red wine was actually only associated with aggression in 3% of participants, suggesting that it really is a drink people turn to when they want to chill out.

Beer
Beer was a close second to red wine when it came to relaxation. 50% of respondents said that they felt like beer made them feel relaxed.

Liquor
When people are looking to relax, they’re not reaching for that bottle of bourbon. Researchers found that only 20% of participants reported feeling relaxed after drinking hard liquor. In contrast, 30% of respondents felt like liquor made them feel aggression, 60% said it made them feel confident and energetic, and 43% of participants associated drinking hard liquor with feeling sexy.

One interesting finding: People who were considered alcohol dependent were five times as likely to say that alcohol made them feel energized. Those same people were six times as likely to say that alcohol made them feel aggressive.

You can check out the full study here.