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In simple terms:

BAC levels are just categories that show how much alcohol is in your blood and how strongly it is affecting you.

How quickly BAC rises

After you drink alcohol:

• Alcohol is absorbed through the stomach and small intestine.
• BAC usually starts rising within 10–20 minutes.
• It often peaks around 30–90 minutes after drinking, depending on:
• Whether you ate food (food slows absorption)
• How fast you drank
• Your body size and metabolism

So even if you stop drinking, your BAC can still go up for a while.

How BAC goes back down

Your body removes alcohol at a pretty steady rate using the liver.

• Average elimination rate: ~0.015% BAC per hour
• Some people: ~0.010%/hour (slower)
• Others (rarely): up to ~0.020%/hour (faster)

That means:
A BAC of 0.08% typically takes about 5–6 hours to fully clear (sometimes longer)