difference between beer and malt beverages?

Question

my friend always drinks beer he has always dranked beer. one night he drank 3 beers, and didn't get buzzed he went to sleep and woke up fine. Just the other day he decided to drink malt beverages,he felt fine when he fell asleep,but when he woke up he felt like he had a twelve pack of beers he felt hungover. Is it because he's use to beer. whats the difference between the two drinks?

Answer 1

Great question, but there isn't a completely clear answer.

Both beer and malt liquor (wine coolers are considered malt beverages, I assume you mean malt liquor...like St. Ides, Mickeys, etc) are fermented from grains.

Beer is generally made for flavor and many specialty grains and adjuncts (hops, fruit, different kinds of barley, etc) are added to give it a distinct and pleasant taste.

Malt liquor is like the black sheep of the family. When prohibition was over, brewers had really started putting out some watered-down beer...and some people complained. Enter malt liquor. No specialty grains, limited hops, no flavorings. Just fermentable sugars and lots of them. So at the time, your average beer was somewhere around 3.5%-4% alcohol, malt liquors were around 6%-9%...and they were cheaper to make.

Over time they got even cheaper. They started packaging them in bigger containers (40oz bottles for example) and even cutting them with other cheap grains (like rice). Rice is notorious for giving people hangovers, so couple that with the higher alcohol content and yep...your buddy got bitten.

Beer has undergone a revolution and craft breweries are putting out more and more great-tasting (and very strong) ales and lagers. You can pretty easily find tripels and barleywines that go 9%-13% alcohol and still taste great.
Malt liquor is still no-nonsense. It's made for people who want to get drunk quicky and cheaply.

Answer 2

I've always enjoyed the taste of cold beer, especially darker brews but I'm allergic to hops. I know that sound like a crock but as a child I had asthma and was allergic to many different foods including chocolate, thank god I've out grown that allergy. For years I tried to drink beer or a few beers and always felt like crap the next day, could have a glass of wine, or more, hard liquor, and not have the same reaction. Only with brewed beverages which include those fancy malted beverages that our the rage today. So, my answer is a bit thin but I'm sticking to my story!

Answer 3

Beer has a lower alcohol content than malt beverages, which usually are flavored and have higher alcohol content, which puts them into a different regulatory category.

Answer 4

malt bevarages dont have much alchal in them as beer

Answer 5

if it was malt liquor like forties...he should have known better... they contain about twice as much alcohol.