Alcohol by volume

The ABV declaration on a bottle of absinthe.

Alcohol by volume (abbreviated as abv or ABV) is a standard measure of how much alcohol (ethanol) is contained in an alcoholic beverage (expressed as a percentage of total volume).^[1][2][3] The ABV standard is used worldwide.^[4]

In some countries, alcohol by volume is referred to as degrees Gay-Lussac (after the French chemist Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac).^[5]

Typical ABV levels

• Fruit juice (naturally occurring): less than 0.1%
• Low-alcohol beer: 0.0%–1.2%
• Kvass: 0.05%-1.5%
• Cider: 2%–8.5%
• Beer: 2%–12% (most often 4%–6%)
• Alcopops: 4%–17.5%
• Mead: 8%-16%
• Barley wine (strong ale): 8%–15%
• Wine: 9%–18% (most often 12.5%–14.5%)^[6]
• Dessert wine: 14%-25%
• Sake (rice wine): 15% (or 18%–20% if not diluted prior to bottling)
• Liqueurs: 15%–55%
• Fortified wine: 15.5%–20%^[7] (in the European Union, 18%–22%)
• Soju: 20%-45% (usually 20%)
• Shochu: 25%-45% (usually 25%)
• Mezcal, Tequila: 32%-60% (usually 40%)
• Vodka: 32%–80% (usually around 40%)
• Pure vanilla extract: 35%+
• Rum: 37.5%–80%
• Sotol: 38%-60%
• Nalewka: 40%-45%
• Gin: 40%-50%
• Whisky: 40%–55% (usually 40% or 43%)
• Baijiu: 40%–60%
• Palinka: 42%–86%
• Rakia and Raki: 42%–86%
• Absinthe: 45%–89.9%
• Poteen: 60%–95%
• Neutral grain spirit: 95%
• Rectified spirit: 96.5%
• Absolute alcohol: >99%

Proof and ABV

Another way of specifying the amount of alcohol is alcoholic proof, which in the United States is twice the alcohol-by-volume number.^[8]

Proof and alcohol by weight

In the United States, a few states regulate and tax alcoholic beverages according to alcohol by weight (ABW), expressed as a percentage of total mass.^[9] Some brewers print the ABW (rather than the ABV) on beer containers, particularly on low-point versions of popular domestic beer brands.

At relatively low ABV, the alcohol percentage by weight is about 4/5 of the ABV (e.g., 3.2% ABW is equivalent to 4.0% ABV).^[10] However, because of the miscibility of alcohol and water, the conversion factor is not constant but rather depends upon the concentration of alcohol. 100% ABW, of course, is equivalent to 100% ABV.

See also

• Alcoholic proof
• Unit of alcohol

References

Notes

Bibliography

• Hehner, Otto (1880). Alcohol Tables: giving for all specific gravities, from 1.0000 to 0.7938, the percentages of absolute alcohol, by weight and volume. London: J & A Churchill, ASIN B0008B5HOU. 

External links

• How do brewers measure the alcohol in beer? HowStuffWorks