• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
Zippy Facts Logo

Zippy Facts

Interesting Random Facts

  • Animals
  • Culture
  • Firsts
  • Food
  • Geography
  • Health
  • History
  • Inventions
  • Language
  • Mythology
  • Odds
  • People
  • Religion
  • Science
  • Space
  • Universe
  • World
You are here: Home / Food / Why Is the Percentage of Alcohol On the Label Not Included On Some Bottles of Beer?

Why Is the Percentage of Alcohol On the Label Not Included On Some Bottles of Beer?

July 5, 2020 by Karen Hill

It used to be that the federal government prohibited brewers from listing the percentage of alcohol on the labels of beers to discourage people from choosing their beverages based on alcohol content. But that’s not true anymore.

In 1935, two years after the repeal of Prohibition, the Federal Alcohol Administration (FAA) Act prohibited the labeling of beers’ alcohol potencies for fear of “strength wars” breaking out among competitive brewers.

Ironically, some sixty years later when light beers and low-alcohol beers were becoming popular, brewers wanted the right to brag about how little alcohol their products contained, and they challenged the “no tell” law. In 1995 the U.S. Supreme Court decided that the labeling ban violated the First Amendment by interfering with the brewers’ right to free speech.

I hereby quote from the April 1, 2000, revision of The U.S. Code of Federal Regulations, Title 27 (Alcohol, Tobacco Products and Firearms), Chapter 1 (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, Department of the Treasury), Part 7 (Labeling and Advertising of Malt Beverages), Subpart C (Labeling Requirements for Malt Beverages), Section 7.71 (Alcoholic content), Subsection (a):

“Alcoholic content, may be stated on a label unless prohibited by State law.”

Individual states are therefore explicitly allowed to trump federal law if they wish, which is not the case with wine or distilled spirits, over which federal law rules supreme. As you can imagine, state beer-labeling laws now vary all over the lot.

From The Beer Institute I obtained information published in the Modern Brewery Age Blue Book, which summarizes the crazy quilt of labeling laws in all fifty states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

By my count, about twenty-seven states still prohibit the labeling of alcohol content, four states require the labeling of beers containing less than 3.2 percent alcohol, and the rest either don’t seem to care or have laws that are so complex as to raise questions about the alcoholic content of the legislators.

Minnesota laws win the prize for complexity. Alaska, as far as I can tell, both prohibits and requires strength labeling.

Related Facts

  • How is nonalcoholic beer made and How does vacuum distillation work?
  • History of Alcohol
  • Why Does Fresh Beer or Lager Taste Better and How Does Conditioned, Matured, or Aged Beer Have Better Flavor?
  • Why do people have different reactions to Alcohol and Does Alcohol effect everyone the same way?
  • Why Is Moderate Alcohol Consumption a Benefit To Heart Health?
  • When Cooking With Beer or Wine, Does All the Alcohol Burn Off, Or Does Some Remain?

Filed Under: Food

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

Previous Post: « Why Is Moderate Alcohol Consumption a Benefit To Heart Health?
Next Post: Is There Any Alcohol In a Non-Alcoholic Beer? And How Much? »

Footer

Follow

  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • GitHub
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Medium
  • Pinterest
  • StumbleUpon
  • Tumblr
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Categories

Accomplishments Animals Culture Firsts Food Geography Health History Inventions Language Mythology Odds People Religion Science Space Universe World Your Body

About

Zippy Facts empowers the world by serving educational content that is accessible to everyone.

A tribute to growing up, zippyfacts.com showcases interesting and unusual facts about the world.

Our mission is to use technology to facilitate knowledge transfer and sharing.

Copyright © 2020 Zippy Facts

  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy