The "Joe Hermann Theory of Beer" revisited

3.2 Beer: The mystery solved

I am sure many of you have wondered the whole story on 3.2 Beer. Most people actually do not take 3.2 beer to be what it really is. Lets start with a little history....First of all 3.2 comes from prohibition. You could drink alcohol if it was less than 3.2% alcohol by weight. When it was abolished with the ST amendment some states decided to keep the 'low-point' alcohol in convenient and grocery stores. 4 states still do, Oklahoma, Kansas, Utah, and Colorado. (Terrible to think about isn't it?)

American consumers generally think of alcohol in terms of alcohol by VOLUME. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (BATF) uses the weight measurement. Thus we get 3.2% Alcohol by weight (or less) beer sold in Colorado grocery stores.So what does that mean. The conversion is quite simple. Multiply the alcohol by weight by 1.25. Or multiply alcohol by volume by 0.8.

Grocery stores sell beer that is marked as 3.2% alcohol by weight.3.2% x 1.25 = 4% alcohol by volume.

Some comparisons:New Belgium Sunshine Wheat - (Belgian style wheat beer) - averages between 4.8-5.2% alcohol by volume. Multiply by .8 and we get 3.8-4.4% alcohol by weight.

New Belgium Saison - (Belgian style saison) - 4.5-9% abv.New Belgium Tripple - (Belgian style triple)- 7-10%abv.Almost every American wheat beer averages between 3.5-5% alcohol by volume. This basically means that so called '3.2% beer." Is actually what we would call 4% beer.

We have all gotten drunk off a pack off Coors tall boys, and we have all gotten drunk off Sunshine. It takes just a little more Coors to get drunk off of. When comparing them to the beer of our wonderful microbrewery it's no argument that they are stronger. I think it's easy to believe that Coors light is 4% alcohol by volume, as Joe Hermann had stated.

Beer Myth: checked out! (correct answer). Great work Joe.

You can find all the info i used at:
How to measure the weight of alcohol
Essay on alcohol content in beer
3.2 Origins