Do the same brand of beers have different alcohol levels in different states?

Question

For example, my co-worker is telling me that Miller Lite in Minnesota has over 10% alcohol per volume while Miller Lite in Virginia has only 2.5%. Seems far fetched. Please give me a thurough answer...Got money riding on this in a little wager!

Answer 1

No miller lite anywhere has a ABV (alcohol by volume) of 10%. However same brand beers can be different from state to state but it's mostly that stupid mormon state of Utah that lowers the alcohol content of beer drastically. I haven't heard of any other state doing so. Just a tid bit of info for you the highest ABV ever brewed in a beer is 25% by volume It's got the world record Samuel Adams Utopia only brewed once a year 3000 bottles a year at $150 a bottlethe strongest ABV of a beer i have ever had was 21% it's brewed by dogfish head and it is called raison d'extra.

Answer 2

I have never seen a beer that had more than a little over 6% alcohol, but the answer to your question is yes. Some states, including Oklahoma and Utah, only allow domestic beer to have 3.2% alcohol, that is where the term 3.2 beer comes from. The same beer in Texas, will be just over 6%. It all has to do with State Law. Remember there are two ways to calculate alcohol content, volume and weight. Calculating by weight gives a smaller alcohol content for the same beer.

Answer 3

Why is this such a difficult question? Some seem to think that every beer is the same as long as it is the same brand. There seems to be no national overview of what the alcohol content allowed in beer is for each state and how or where it can be purchased. Living in Oklahoma I know for a fact that 3.2% content is all that is allowed. Colorado allows 3.2% or 3.5% to be purchased in grocery and convenience stores but a higher content is purchased in liquor stores. Yes even the same brands will have a different % content depending on where they are purchased. At one time Kansas didn t even have a law against drinking and driving with a 3.2% beer but don t you dare get caught with a 5.0%. This was before the M.A.D. mothers started their national campaign against drinking and driving. All I wanted to know was if Arkansas also sells lower % content in their grocery stores and a higher content in their liquor stores of the same beer brand. I guess I will just have to driver over the state line and ask them myself since this is not an issues that has a national tally.

Answer 4

26 states in the US have no restriction on the strength of a beer. However, some states such as Utah put a limit on the alcohol content permissible for a draft<3.2%> this is not to say that beer companies alter the amount of alcohol in their brew by where it will be sold, but that you may not be able to get a nice micro brew or a Belgian in some of these states. I know also tha some states will only let you call it ALE if it is in such a range and LAGER or STOUTif it falls within another.

Answer 5

No they do not I am from wisconsin and that is one of the biggest drinking states there is. it is all the same. I have gone drinking in minnesota and it is the same as any where else. you might find different brans that are higher than others but the same brands are the same brands no matter where you go. Miller lite isn't 10% alcohol no matter where you go, I know because when I drink beer that is what I drink. Hope I helped you when your bet, know you can prove him wrong.

Answer 6

Mega brewed beers, like Miller, are very consistent in their product. You won't find differences like what your friend claims. Things like this will turn off the customers. Your friend is probably covering up for getting drunk on one beer.

Different styles of beer do have different levels of alcohol. Click on the following link for details:

http://www.bjcp.org/2004_BJCP_Guidelines.pdf

Light beer is not light because they removed alcohol from it. It's started out lighter. Removing alcohol requires a distillery license and breweries rarely get those.

Answer 7

I don't know about the percentages your friend speaks of. %10 seems very high to me for beer. But I do know that the percentages vary. When I was in Utah, I drank a few beers and couldn't understand why they had to intoxicating effect on me at all. It seems that beer sold in bars/restaurants is restricted to a very low level of alcohol there. Odd. But perhaps it has something to do with the puritanical / Mormon background there and their fight for temperance.

I think it varies, based upon local laws, not local tastes.

Answer 8

Light beer is light because they have removed a good deal of the alcohol. It is a crime against nature where ever you buy it. When I lived in Florida,for two years and they only allowed beer to have a small amount of alcohol and Floridians thought they were big drinkers. Always loved watching them fall down on six beers when they visited me back home.

Answer 9

I think that his numbers are off, but yes, they can be different depending on state.
I think that where I live the highest alcohol content you can get is 5.5, and that's Molson XXX - I seriously doubt that any beer in the US has a 10% level. I think Miller Lite is about 3.5% here.

Answer 10

There can be different levels, as when I was in the Marines, we could only get 2.5 on base where you could get regular beer on the streets like in a packy. BUT 10%, No I think your friend is wrong. I don't think it goes over, like 5%, But maybe as high as 7, but not 10