This study identified the pattern of alcohol consumption among high school students in Passos, Minas Gerais State, and its association with socio-demographic factors. Study participants included 1,967 adolescents from public and private educational institutions. The AUDIT questionnaire was used. For data analysis, descriptive statistics, the chi-square test and multiple logistic regression were applied. The average age of participants was 15.84±1.23 years. The first contact with alcohol occurred at 13.37±1.92 years. Among the adolescents, 30.96% were teetotalers, 45.76% had moderate drinking behavior, 16.47%, were risk drinkers, 3.51% were high-risk drinkers, and 3.31% possible addicts. There was a significant association between the risk of drinking and sex, the relationship of adolescents with their mothers, work, economic bracket and education of the head of the family. In multivariate analysis, there was a higher risk for adolescent males, as well as workers with a poor relationship with their mothers. It was found that teenagers have early contact with alcohol and high prevalence of risk-related drinking behavior.