The Impressive Number Of Beers Andre The Giant Drank In One Sitting
How many beers might you drink in a sitting? One? Two? How about 119? This number seems beyond possibility, and it is for pretty much everyone, but that's how many beers the French wrestler Andre the Giant reportedly had in one night of imbibement, according to Modern Drunkard Magazine.
Born Andre Rene Rousimoff, the behemoth of a man, who stood at roughly 7 feet tall, has had a number of stories told of him drinking dozens of bottles of beer at a time. That 119 number is sometimes disputed. Andre himself claimed to have drunk 117 in a 1984 interview with David Letterman, while his fellow wrestler Mike Graham said he witnessed the Giant down as many as 156 (via Thrillist), but most stories defer to one of the 100-teen numbers. Either way, this is a frankly preposterous amount of beer to have consumed at once. The professional wrestling icon has become somewhat of a legendary figure in the wrestling world and even in the wider sphere of pop culture.
From legendary stories about his ability to tip over cars to an account of him eating 12 steaks and 15 lobsters in a single sitting (via WWE), Andre the Giant has achieved a certain level of mythological status outside of his in-ring career.
The drinking habits of a Giant
While the average beer drinker may be concerned with the perfect beer glass or even hacks to elevate cheaper beers, these things would only slow down someone with the drinking acumen of Andre the Giant, who was no stranger to some superhuman levels of drinking during and after his wrestling career. While the 119 bottles of beer is a practically inconceivable number to any other mortal, this does not seem to have been an isolated incident.
Many of Andre the Giant's pro wrestling peers have shared stories about his now-infamous feats of liquor consumption. Ric Flair, one of the most famous pro wrestlers of all time, once told ESPN that he and Andre (mostly Andre) rid an entire Boeing 747 of its vodka supply while in transit from Chicago to Tokyo (via Thrillist). On WBZ Radio's Toucher & Rich Show, another household wrestling name Hulk Hogan recalled the Giant drinking 12 standard-size bottles of wine in just 3 hours while traveling via bus in Japan (via CBS News). But perhaps the most eye-opening anecdote comes outside the world of wrestling, with Andre's "The Princess Bride" co-star Cary Elwes telling Vanity Fair that the gargantuan man ran up a $40,000 tab at his hotel during the shooting of the 1987 film. Each tale on its own would be enough to cement a regular person in the annals of drinking history, but according to his friends, Andre the Giant did all of them.
Being giant was both a blessing and a curse
While Andre the Giant's heavy liquor intake has been regaled by many of the people who have had the fortune of knowing him in his life, these astounding stories distract from the unfortunate reason why the wrestling legend drank so much to begin with. Andre the Giant was truly gargantuan in his life, at one point turning the scales to about 500 pounds (although an exact number is hard to come by since wrestling promotions back then often inflated their height and weight numbers). He suffered from a rare disease called acromegaly, a pituitary disorder that causes extra growth hormones to be released, resulting in gigantism starting at an early age. Unfortunately, this meant that Andre would continue growing even after his bones stopped developing. This, combined with the rigors of a long and extensive pro wrestling career, resulted in the Giant being stricken with great deals of pain for most of his life — a pain that he may have partially numbed with alcohol, according to Elwes in the same Vanity Fair interview.
Andre the Giant was a truly remarkable character with some truly astounding drinking stories, though those stories are certainly overshadowed by the possibility that he was frequently in physical pain. One thing is for sure: Andre's achievements — both on the ring and with his friends — are unforgettable.