US beer

[oxf]

Perhaps someone can answer this for me. I have noticed that bottles/cans of beer in the USA never have any indication of the acoholic strength on them. This even includes beer that is produced outside the US and imported into the US. Is there some law in the USA that forbids desplaying telling the customer how strong it is? Every other country I have been to always has the %ABV on the label.

Just curious!

[isaacj87]

Perhaps someone can answer this for me. I have noticed that bottles/cans of beer in the USA never have any indication of the acoholic strength on them. This even includes beer that is produced outside the US and imported into the US. Is there some law in the USA that forbids desplaying telling the customer how strong it is? Every other country I have been to alwats has the %ABV on the label.

Just curious!

A couple months ago, I wanted to try out Bud Light Platinum. When I tasted it, the taste was pretty much the same as Bud Light. I remember thinking, "what's so special about this beer?" So, I looked at the bottle and read that it has 6% ABV. I can't remember whether I've read the ABV on a can of beer, but I do recall reading it on bottles.

[Frogs Hair]

Micro brews with high alcohol content will often display the % on the label . Most of the major brands like Bud and Miller run about 4% to 6%. There are some states that have or had a 3.2 % regulation and this was/is called "near beer." I don't know how many states still have these kinds of laws on the books.

[oxf]

Micro brews with high alcohol content will often display the % on the label . Most of the major brands like Bud and Miller run about 4% to 6%. There are some states that have or had a 3.2 % regulation and this was/is called "near beer." I don't know how many states still have these kinds of laws on the books.

Now you mention it I do recall some of the designer microbrews having %ABV on the label. But why don't run of the mill ones like Bud/Miller/Coors etc etc have it on the label? Even Mexican/European imports dont seem to. I once asked a bar tender about this and he just shrugged and didn't know the answer except to say "just the way it is"

[uRock]

Heineken does not have the ABV rating. Pyramid Thunderhead is labeled 6.7% and Blue Moon Summer Honey Wheat is labeled 5.2%. I think most cheap American beers do not mark their percentages due to embarrassment of their weakness.

[elliotn]

here in SA all alcohol must carry the Alc/vol in them, even the imported beers like MGD,Amstel and Heineken, they normally vary from 4.0% alc/vol to 6.5% alc/vol, I haven't seen a beer that passed 6.5 and last time I check Castle Milk Stout was 6% lowest bring Castle Lite at 4.0%, Black Label at 5.0%, Castle lager 5.4%
...... hot stuff are heavy with most at 43% like Gordon Dry Gin

[Copper Bezel]

Weird. I'll be honest, I drink a lot of cheap beer; but everything I buy is labeled for ABV. (Killian's, Liney's, Guinness....)

Edit: Oh, and here in Kansas, there are rules on the ABV this or that sort of retailer can sell, so the proper beverage outlets sell exclusively the 5%-ish beer, while gas stations and grocery stores can only sell the 3.2%.

[Bandit]

Perhaps someone can answer this for me. I have noticed that bottles/cans of beer in the USA never have any indication of the acoholic strength on them. This even includes beer that is produced outside the US and imported into the US. Is there some law in the USA that forbids desplaying telling the customer how strong it is? Every other country I have been to always has the %ABV on the label.

Just curious!

Some do here in the US, but most dont show the alc content. Reason I can think of is the states set the alch level for determining what license you need to sell. For example you need a license to sell Beer and one for stronger stuff like Big Beers (Chimay for example) Wines and Liquors. So instead of Budweiser making 50 different labels per se for each state, they just make one without the content displayed. 50 labels is an exaggeration, but you get the point. That however doesn't explain why other beers that are imported can be sold under the same license and still have higher alch content. I know Tennessee if I am not mistaken has like 5.2ish percent and here in Mississippi its like 4.7ish percent for domestic horse ****.

[Bandit]

Heineken does not have the ABV rating. Pyramid Thunderhead is labeled 6.7% and Blue Moon Summer Honey Wheat is labeled 5.2%. I think most cheap American beers do not mark their percentages due to embarrassment of their weakness.

LOL this is prob the best answer.



I got a few empty bottles of Chimay 9% and Steen Burgge 8.7% on my fridge. Wished they were full again..

[F.G.]

mmm... american beer.

from what i recall in the states alot of the generic domestic beer (pbr, busch etc) doesn't have it's strength on particularly light beer, though it is fairly easy to find out on the web. certainly i think the stronger ones do have the strength marked (i;m thinking Old English and Natty Ice, which i think has 6.4 on the tin) also i think most microbrews do (particularly the stronger ones like Arrogant Bastard and Russian Imperial Stout, which i think are 7.4 and 12 % respectively).

yeah there are definitely some states where the strength of the beer is limited to 3.something , i think Utah is one of them. coming from the uk it does seem pretty odd that it isn't a requirement to have the strength on the tin, still were talking about a country that have 9% alcoholic drinks (even 12% 'Crunk Juice') as 'energy drinks'.

edit -> just thinking about different beers, found this website:
http://www.alcoholcontents.com/beer/
i guess i was wrong about natural ice. some quite interesting reading though i doubt it is accurate across all states. and yeah, apparently Utah have a statewide limit of 4% (3.2 by wieght) for alcohol.