Alcohol by Weight vs. Volume
Posted by Beer Bitch in Featured, Other Oddities on February 9, 2012 10:25 am / 1 comment
You may have heard the terms alcohol by weight (ABW) or alcohol by volume (ABV). What is the difference?
Alcohol by weight is the weight of alcohol in a drink divided by the total weight of the drink. It is expressed as a percentage. ABW is not used as much as ABV.
Alcohol by volume is describes how much alcohol is in a drink expressed as a percentage. For example, a Sam Adams Boston Lager is 4.9% ABV. You will not find the ABV on all bottles or beer menus, but I think you should. Drinking responsibly means knowing how much alcohol you a drinking. Bell’s Hopslam Ale is 10% ABV which means you can drink twice as much Boston Lager than Hopslam and still consumed less alcohol. ABV is also related to the proof in liquor. An 80 liquor is 40% ABV.
How do ABW and ABV compare?
The ABW of a beer is roughly 4/5 of the ABV. A beer that is 3.2% ABW is about 4.0 ABV. This is a rough estimate because the weight of water and alcohol differ.
You may also like:
On a Friday afternoon grocery run I came across the Sam Adams Winter Classics Sampler Pack. The Chocolate Bock has replaced the Cranbe...
A few weeks ago Walgreens opened at 27,350 SF flagship store at the corner of State and Randolph in the Chicago Loop. The two-story store is wel...
After my last Goose story I was prepared to steer away from Goose Island. Personally, I feel the topic is getting somewhat old, but the Hall's s...
I do not know if it was the holidays or the fact that I am getting older, but I decided to write a series of posts about memorable moments in my ...
Tags: ABV, ABW, Definitions
0 Comments
Agreed!