Not only do most alcoholic beverages contain very little sugar, but your body does not metabolize alcohol calories into sugar, or blood glucose, either. Your body converts alcohol calories to acetate. The sugar impact of an alcoholic beverage stems from its carbohydrate content, because your body does convert carbs into blood glucose. But distillation destroys the carbs in hard liquor, so this is only a factor with wine.
Wine
Wine has the highest sugar content of any alcoholic beverage. A 6-oz. glass of chardonnay has 4 g of sugar, and the same size serving of pinot noir has 2 g. The fermentation process of wine does not completely eliminate the sugar in its base ingredients, and other carbohydrate content survives the process as well. A 6-oz. glass of pinot noir has 4 g of carbohydrates and chardonnay has 2 g per 6 oz. Your body will convert these carbs into glucose.
Beer
Beer doesn't have any sugar content. It can be high in carbohydrates, however, and this can have the same impact on your diet as a cookie or a piece of candy. A 12-oz. bottle of Samuel Adams Boston Lager contains 18 g of carbohydrates. Light beer usually contains less, however. A 12-oz. bottle of Bud Light has only 7 g of sugar. Your body won't convert the carbohydrates to glucose immediately, however. It processes the alcohol content first.
Distilled Liquor
Distilled liquor contains no sugar and no carbohydrates. According to David Hanson for the website Alcohol Problems & Solutions, it doesn't matter if the base of the liquor is potatoes, grain, sugar or molasses. The distillation process converts the carbohydrates and the sugars into ethyl alcohol, and there is no trace of them left behind.
Tips
Liqueurs start out as liquor, but many have sugar added after distillation, so they can have a quite high sugar content. For example, a 1-oz. shot of Kahlua or the same serving of triple sec contains 11 g of sugar. A 1-oz. shot of Bailey's Irish Cream has 6 g of sugar. Adding mixers to distilled beverages can also change the sugar content dramatically. If you combine vodka with 8 oz. of orange juice, you've added 24 g of sugar to the drink, even though the vodka originally had none. If you add 8 oz. of tonic water to your gin, it will contribute 27 g of sugar. If you're watching your sugar intake but would like a cocktail, you would be better off with wine, which has just a little sugar, versus a mixed drink, unless you combine distilled liquor with water or a diet soft drink.
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