You’re probably thinking about the alcohol content in beers. Whether it’s for health reasons or curiosity, knowing your beer alcohol percentage is always wise to avoid accidents.
Stick around, as this article shows you all the beers and their alcohol percentages.
General Amounts
When told what constitutes a drink, many people express astonishment. Not always does the amount of liquid in your glass, can, or bottle match the amount of alcohol in your drink.
Beer, wine, and malt liquor can all have a lot of different amounts of alcohol. For example, about 85% as much alcohol is in a light beer as in a regular beer.
Another way to say it is:
- Regular beer usually has a 5% alcohol content in them.
- Some light beers contain 4.2%.
That’s why you should know how much alcohol is in your drink.
In the U.S., one “standard” drink, which is the same as one alcoholic drink, has about 14 grams of pure alcohol, which can be found in:
- Twelve ounces of regular beer have about 5% alcohol by volume.
- Five ounces of wine, which has about 12% alcohol on average.
- 1.5 ounces of distilled spirits, which have about 40% alcohol.
Popular brands of beer with 2% ABV
In the craft beer revolution days, you don’t usually find yourself with a 2% ABV beer in your hand. 2.8% of a bottle of Miller 64 is alcohol. You won’t notice much difference at first, but after a few of these, you’ll definitely see a difference.
But this one is probably the easiest to chug or shotgun out of all the beers on this list.
- Miller 64
Popular brands of beer with 3% ABV
A beer with an alcohol level between 3% and 3.99% is a good session beer. You’ll also find the word “light” in the name, as with Amstel Light and Heineken Light.
The 3% range is an excellent place to look if you want low-calorie beers. It’s also a great place to drink all day, as some people do on St. Patrick’s Day.
If you’re going to make a green beer, you might want to think about a 3% brand.
- Amstel Light
- Michelob Ultra Pure Gold
- Modelo Chelada
- Heineken Light
Popular brands of beer with 4% ABV
Look at all of these well-known beers. The typical alcohol content of America’s best-selling beers is around 4%.
The fact that Bud Light has 4.2% more alcohol than Busch Light is an interesting thought in itself. It’s also nice that Yuengling, the oldest brewery in America, is getting some attention on this list.
Also on the list is Quebec’s Glutenberg, a gluten-free beer that still has alcohol in it.
- Milwaukee’s Best Light
- Keystone Light
- Bud Light
- Bud Light Lime
- Coors Light
- Bud Light Next
- Corona Premier
- Sam Adams Light
- Busch Light
- Corona Light
- Michelob Light
- Miller Lite
- Natural Light
- Budweiser Select
- Guinness Draught
- Michelob Ultra
- Miller Genuine Draft Light
- Busch
- Lone Star Beer
- New Planet Blonde Ale
- Corona Extra
- Dos Equis Amber
- Rolling Rock Extra Pale
- Modelo Especial
- Yuengling Lager
- Landshark Lager
- Tecate
- Newcastle Brown Ale
- Red Stripe
- Pabst Blue Ribbon (PBR)
- Michelob
- Hamm’s Beer
- Miller High Life
- Harp Lager
Popular brands of beer with 5% ABV
A 5% alcohol by volume (ABV) beer like Budweiser costs the same as a dozen beers at Costco. You’ll also notice that Coors Banquet beer has the same amount of alcohol as Bud Heavy.
Also, if the name has “ice” in it, the ABV rating increases even more.
Keystone Ice, Milwaukee’s Best Ice, and Natural Ice are all close to 6% ABV. 5% ABV is starting to take shower beers out of the running.
- Hard Mountain Dew
- Grolsch Premium Lager
- Moosehead Lager
- Puppers Beer
- Heineken
- Asahi
- Budweiser
- Coors Banquet
- Fosters
- George Killian’s Irish Red
- Icehouse
- Milwaukee’s Best Ice
- Natural Ice
- Sierra Nevada Pale Ale
- Stella Artois
- Blue Moon Beer
- Mickey’s
- Keystone Ice
Well-known 6% ABV Beers
Check out the list of beers with the most alcohol if you’re interested. Some of the percentages of alcohol on that list are very high.
Be careful and responsible when drinking any beer, especially the Sam Adams Utopia series and Brewmeister Snake Venom ales with a high ABV.
- Bud Light Platinum
- King Cobra
Well-known 7% ABV Beers
7% ABV is getting pretty high. This is where all of those craft IPAs start to show up.
Racer 5 IPA from the Bear Republic might be the best example of a beer with 7% alcohol.
- See Foam
- Green Fountains
- Save The Robots
- Imperial Galaxyc Cirrocumulus
- Melvin
- Campfire King
- Pollock Rip
- Mike’s Pastry
- Tubular
- Tickling the Ivories
- Millennial Mansion
- Two Hearted Ale
- Side Business
- Lunch
- Thaw
- Jess
- 508
- Double Bag
- Racer 5 IPA
- Doobious
- The Floor is Lava
- Focal Banger
- Jai Alai
Popular brands of beer with 8% ABV
At 8% abv, we start the range of Imperial IPAs. 8% isn’t a joke since it’s already double the amount some of the mentioned beers have.
- Captain’s Daughter
- Epiphany
- Johnny Hammersticks
- The Other End
- Hi-Def
- Skywind Huckabee
- Samoan Drop
- Salted Caramel
- Big Papi 8
- V
- Sun Showers
- God is an American
- Ephemeral
- Sip of Sunshine
- GG Vibes
- Hair Raiser
- Hopzilla
- Northern Heights
- Citra Ass Down
- DDH Pulp Daddy
- Pulp
- Space Dust IPA
- Dream Team
- Imperial Maine Event
- Smooooth
- Odin
- It’s Complicated Being a Wizard
- Orbital Elevator
- Tribute
- Heady Topper
- Second Fiddle
- Plush
- Costumes & Karaoke
- Pulp Daddy
- Kill Puss
9% ABV Beers
Nine percent is the beginning of “that’s just silly.” You should be careful if you drink more than two or three of these a day.
Note to everyone: Don’t drink 9% beer quickly.
- Atlantis Will Prevail/Turn Back the Seas
- Temptress
- Allagash Tripel
- Dogs & Boats
- On The Wings Of Armageddon
- Double Cannon
- Vanilla Superdome
- Double Thunder Funk
- Jigsaw Jazz
- Dented
- Kelley2
- Golden Monkey
Beers with 10% ABV
Once you reach ten, everything goes downhill from there. Get a good koozie because the ten percenters only like to sip.
- Evana
- Evangelion XVII [Tabris] (Ghost 946)
- Wooo!!
- Crème Brûlée
- the Entity
- Key Bump
- Regime (Ghost 916)
- Cherry Cordial
- Weights & Measures
- Fayston Maple
- Radioface
- Castle in the Clouds
- Triple Ecstasy
- Triple Sunshine
- King Misanthrope
11% ABV Beers
11% alcohol content is a tad bit crazy, but many brewers get to try new things in this range.
- Cherry Bomb
- Mad Elf
- Another Dry January
- Good Night Moon
12% ABV Beers
There is not much to say about 12% beers, but please drink responsibly if you really want to try them.
- French Toast Barrel-Aged Framinghammer
- S’Mores Barrel-Aged Framinghammer
- Greylock
Related Reading: What is IBUs in Beer? – Check Them out Here
Final Thoughts
Find the beer that works best for you and your tolerance. Responsible drinking is crucial if you plan to consume a lot or try the higher percentage ABV beers.
