Alcohol by volume (abbreviated as abv, ABV, or alc/vol) 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]
Contents |
Details about typical amounts of alcohol contained in various beverages can be found in the articles about individual drinks.
Drink | Typical ABV |
---|---|
Fruit juice (naturally occurring) | less than 0.1% |
Low-alcohol beer | 0.0%–1.2% |
Kvass | 0.05%–1.5% |
Kombucha | 0.5%–1.5% |
Boza | 1% |
Chicha | 1%–11% (usually 1%–6%) |
Cider | 2%–8.5% |
Beer | 2%–12% (usually 4%–6%) |
Alcopops | 4%–17.5% |
Malt liquor | 5%+ |
Makgeolli | 6.5%–7% |
Barley wine (strong ale) | 8%–15% |
Mead | 8%–16% |
Wine | 9%–16% (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 | 17%–45% (usually 19%) |
Shochu | 25%–45% (usually 25%) |
Bitters | 28%–45% |
Mezcal, Tequila | 32%–60% (usually 40%) |
Vodka | 35%–50% (usually 40%) |
Brandy | 35%–60% (usually 40%) |
Rum | 37.5%–80% |
Ouzo | 37.5%+ |
Cachaça | 38%–54% |
Sotol | 38%–60% |
Nalewka | 40%–45% |
Gin | 40%–50% |
Whisky | 40%–55% (usually 40% or 43%) |
Baijiu | 40%–60% |
Chacha | 40%–70% |
Pálinka | 42%–86% (legally in Hungary ≤51%) |
Rakia | 42%–86% |
Absinthe | 45%–89.9% |
Ţuica | 45%–60% (usually 52%) |
Poitín | 60%–95% |
Neutral grain spirit | 85%–95% |
Cocoroco | 93%–96% |
Rectified spirit | 95%-96% |
Absolute alcohol (ethanol) | 99%+ |
Another way of specifying the amount of alcohol is alcohol proof, which in the United States is twice the alcohol-by-volume number,[8][9] while in the United Kingdom it was 1.75 times the number (expressed as a percentage). For example, 40% abv is 80 proof in the US and 70 proof in the UK. However, since 1980, alcoholic proof in the UK has been replaced by abv as a measure of alcohol content.
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. 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.
During the production of wine and beer, yeast is added to a sugary solution. During fermentation, the yeast organisms consume the sugars and produce alcohol. The density of sugar in water is greater than the density of alcohol in water. A hydrometer is used to measure the change in specific gravity (SG) of the solution before and after fermentation. The volume of alcohol in the solution can then be calculated.
The simplest method for wine has been described by English author C.J.J. Berry:[11]
The calculation for beer is:
Where 1.05 is number of grams of ethanol produced for every gram of CO2 produced and .79 is the density of ethanol alcohol,
However, many brewers use the following formula: