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Originally posted by: BobOrme
I saw one of the class action lawyers suing Bud/InBev on TV today claiming Budweiser labeled their beer as having 6% alcohol content. I call bullshit!
Go into any liquor store or grocery store or where ever beer is sold and look at the cartons. 3.2% (maximum) beer is labeled as such in jurisdictions where beer alcohol content is limited due to the outlet selling it or days of the week it can be sold. You won't see alcohol content on beer labeling in full sale liquor stores except for so-called "ice" beers or perhaps some imported high alcohol content beers, and most of those range around 5.3%-5.8%.
When I owned a bar (about 30 years ago) I subscribed to a liquor industry magazine that would conduct their own independent tests on alcohol content of domestic beers, both their 3.2% and regular beers. 3.2% maximum for 3.2 beers was actually at the maximum for about a third of the beers. The rest were somewhere between 2.8% and 3.1%. The "regular" liquor store beers made by the same brewers tested higher in most cases, but not all. Some canned or bottled out of the same tanks and measured 3.2% or less! At that time, Michelob was the highest alcohol content domestic beer at 3.6%. I used to laugh at people who thought there was much difference between 3-2 and "6 point". The difference isn't as much as most people think.
There was a huge lawsuit years ago by Coors. Coors wanted to put the ABV on their label. The Feds said no way. The Feds were afraid that it would start an alcohol war with brewers trying to outdo each other with more EtOH on the label. Federal courts ruled that consumers have the right to know.
Lots of beers and ciders in NJ are labeled with the ABV content. I even see it on menus when I go out.
The lower EtOH beers are referred to as "session" beers. Higher EtOH beers get up to 12% to 14%. Stuff like Samichlaus is not to be trifled with. One of my favorites, SNPA is 5.6% ABV in the bottle. The most excellent Celebration Ale is 6.8%.
I read the Bud lawsuit but didn't see any data. What is the beer labeled as and what is the ABV content that does not meet label claim?
