Some states are reviewing higher beer alcohol content levels

November 4, 4:59 PMChicago Craft Beer ExaminerMarty Nachel

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A growing number of states are moving to allow higher alcohol content in beer, despite concerns from some substance-abuse experts.

Alabama and West Virginia have passed laws increasing the legal alcohol-by-volume cap for beer from 6% to as high as 13.9% this year.  Similar efforts are underway in Iowa and Mississippi, two states with very restrictive limits on the sale of high-alcohol beer.  This follows Vermont, which raised the cap to 16%, and Montana, which raised it to 14% last year.

Ohio was among the first to raise beer alcohol-content rules when it pushed the allowable alcohol-by-volume to 12% in 2002, Gatza said. Georgia followed in 2004, then North Carolina in 2005 and South Carolina in 2007.

Illinois currently has no restrictions on beer alcohol limits.

Many of the efforts to change existing caps are led by consumers and grass-roots campaigns.  The Iowa Brewers Guild and a consumer group called Lift the Limit are working to change that state’s restrictions on beer alcohol levels. 

Unfortunately, twenty states still place some limits on the amount of alcohol in beer, partly due to attitudes expressed by people like David Rosenbloom, President of the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University.  Rosenbloom argues that higher alcohol beers with cause people to get drunker faster and stay drunker longer.

Countering that mentality, Paul Gatza, director of the national Brewers Association says that limiting alcohol content restricts flavors and styles because "you can't put as much malt or other sugars in your beer as you may want to."  Furthermore, according to Gatza, consumers of specialty or microbrewed beers, also known as craft beers, "don't drink to get drunk. They drink to appreciate the flavors."   Craft beers, which are typically stronger, also tend to be more expensive. An average case of Budweiser costs $17.76, according to Information Resources, a market research group. Midrange higher-alcohol beers cost $24-$40 per case,

Ironically, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) takes a surprisingly moderate stand.  Chuck Hurley, CEO of MADD, is quoted as saying "Our chief concern is that (higher-alcohol brews) be properly labeled so people understand it takes fewer beers to become intoxicated."

Meanwhile, according to a 2002 study by the Alcohol Research Group in Emeryville, California, the average alcohol content in beer is 4.65%, but 11.45% in wine.  No one seems to be concerned about that.