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It means it's 40% alcohol. The proof number is twice the percentage of alcohol. Proof is a system of measuring the alcohol percentage where 200 is 100% alcohol. So 80 proof is 40% pure alcohol by volume.

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15y ago
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13y ago

Well, there is actually no such thing as 80 proof beer.

Proof, in short, is a measure of the alcoholic content beverages, used specifically in hard spirits. The proof, specifically, is double the content of alcohol by volume.

For example, most vodka is 80 proof, which means it contains 40% alcohol by volume. In other words, 40% of the liquid in the bottle is alcohol, the rest is water, residual sugars, etc.

To get such high alcohol content, liquids must be distilled. Beer is not distilled. If it is, it is no longer beer, but closer to a grain alcohol of some sort.

The highest alcohol ever produced in a true beer was done by Samuel Adams. The brewery's "Utopias" is a hybrid-type of barleywine-style ale that reaches 25.6% alcohol by volume (51.2 proof, although beer is not measured in proof).

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It meant beer with 40% alcohol by volume. Scottish beer maker "Brewdog" has just come out with a high alcohol beer. It's 55% alcohol by volume (or 110 proof). Freezing and decanting is used to increase the concentration of the alcohol. Since the end of product is still brewed but not distilled (if distilled; then it's technically a wine or spirit; not beer), hence it's consider a beer.

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14y ago

In the 18th century and until 1 January 1980, Britain defined alcohol content in terms of "proof spirit," which was defined as the most dilute spirit that would sustain combustion of gunpowder. The term originated in the 18th century, when payments to British sailors included rations of rum. To ensure that the rum had not been watered down, it was "proofed" by dousing gunpowder in it, then testing to see if the gunpowder would ignite. If it did not burn, the rum contained too much water and was considered to be "under proof." A proven sample of rum was defined to be 100 degrees proof; this was later found to occur at 57.15% alcohol by volume, which is very close to a 4:7 ratio of alcohol to total amount of liquid. Thus, the definition amounted to declaring that (4÷7) × 175 = 100 degrees proof spirit.

From this it followed that pure, 100% alcohol had (7÷7) × 175 = 175 degrees proof spirit, and that 50% ABV had (3.5÷7) × 175 = 87.5 degrees proof spirit. To convert percentage of alcohol by volume to degrees proof spirit, multiply the percentage by 1.75.

In the United Kingdom, the proof-to-ABV ratio is 7:4. In the United States, it is 2:1.

(Source Wikipedia)

Therefore, 80 degrees proof in the USA is 40% ABV and in the UK is about 46%. 88 degrees proof in the UK would be very close to 50% ABV and 44% ABV in the USA.

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8y ago

40% alcohol by volume.

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11y ago

false

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Q: What does 80 proof indicate?
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