How Much Alcohol is in Beer? (ABV List By Brand, Brewery, and Style)

A standard 12-ounce beer drink contains about 5% alcohol (ABV) or .6 ounces of pure ethanol. Light beers range from 1.2-5% ABV, medium beers range from 5-8% ABV, strong beers range from 8-15% ABV, and some specialty beers go above 15% ABV.

In the rest of the article, I will include a list of the alcohol content in popular beers as well as the typical ABV range of each beer style. To complete the data, I’ll also include the number of carbohydrates and calories in each beer.

List of alcohol content (ABV) in popular beer brands

I’ve spent a lot of time and energy putting together this massive list of beer alcohol content below but it has gotten quite lengthy (be sure to use the search feature on the table!).

So, here is the ABV (alcohol content) of the most frequently searched beers:

• Bud Light’s alcohol content is 4.2%
• Coors Light’s alcohol content is 4.2%
• Miller Lite’s alcohol content is 4.2%
• Michelob Ultra’s alcohol content is 4.2%
• Guinness’ alcohol content is 4.2%
• Modelo Especial’s alcohol content is 4.4%
• Yuengling’s alcohol content is 4.4%
• Corona Extra’s alcohol content is 4.6%
• Budweiser’s alcohol content is 5%
• Heineken’s alcohol content is 5%
• Blue Moon’s alcohol content is 5.4%

Now, here is my complete list of beers including the brewery, ABV, carbs, and calories. New entries are added frequently – feel free to let me know if I’ve missed something!

List of alcohol content (ABV) by beer style

Many beer drinkers might not realize that each beer style has a traditional range of alcohol content which can start all the way down at 1.2% ABV and go up to around 15% ABV.

Keep in mind that alcohol content is rarely the primary factor when brewing beer, but rather it is a byproduct of the ingredients used including malts and other fermentables as well as the yeast involved during fermentation.

Let’s take a look at the most popular styles of beer around the world and how much alcohol you should expect to see. Feel free to search by style or traditional ABV range.

What is considered a standard drink?

Alcohol is a highly regulated substance in the United States and, as such, there must be a standardized way to measure the alcohol content in various drinks such as beer, wine, and liquor so that we can compare them.

A standard drink is any drink that includes .6 fluid ounces of pure ethanol which is typically represented by 12 ounces of beer (at 5% ABV), 5 ounces of wine (at 12% ABV), 2-3 ounces of a cordial or liqueur (at 24% ABV), and 1.5 ounces of brandy, cognac, and other distilled spirits (at 40% ABV).

Of course, not every beer, wine, or liquor will fit into this standard measurement but it is a close approximation.

Standard beer drink

A standard beer drink is 12 ounces of regular beer measured at 5% ABV.

Standard wine drink

A standard wine drink is 5 ounces of wine measured at 12% ABV.

Standard liquor drink

A standard liquor drink is 1.5 ounces of spirit measured at 40% ABV.

The five categories of beer based on alcohol content

There is no official governing body of beer categories and specifications but the Brewer’s Association gets pretty close with its annual beer style guidelines report which is crafted by beer judges, brewers, writers, and enthusiasts from around the world.

In this report, you can find information on the dozens of official styles listed that includes color, clarity, flavors, aromas, bitterness, body, ABV range, and other special characteristics.

While these aren’t official categories, I like to break beer down into 5 groups based on their alcohol content.

Non-alcoholic (0-1.2% ABV)

Yes, non-alcoholic beer is still beer. In fact, most non-alcoholic beer does still contain a bit of alcohol and it is often made with nearly the exact same process as regular beer, just with a lower ABV.

In this category, you will see beers such as O’doul’s, Heineken 0.0, and several selections from Athletic Brewing Company

Light (1.2-5% ABV)

The light beer category is probably what most people think of when they think of beer. Beers in this category are typically light in almost everything – alcohol, ingredients, flavor, and aroma. With that said, there are lots of neat beers to try in this category once you get away from the American Light Lagers.

Common light beers are Bud Light, Miller Lite, and Coors light but also includes ‘session’ versions of popular craft beer styles such as Samuel Adam’s Just the Haze, Bell’s Light Hearted Ale, and Founder’s All Day IPA.

Medium (5-8% ABV)

Once you move into the medium beer category, you will start to find more full-flavored and full-bodied beers. The reason is two-fold, higher ABV beers need more flavor to balance the warmth of the alcohol and you have to use more malt in the brewing process to create that alcohol in the first place.

Common medium beer styles are pale ales, IPAs, Dark Lagers, Brown Ales, Sours, and many more.

Strong (8-15% ABV)

Once you move into the strong beer category, you will find some less mainstream styles as well as ‘Imperial’ versions of popular medium beers.

Strong beers include Imperial IPAs, Imperial Stouts, Strong ales, Wee Heavies, Barleywines, and others.

Ultra-strong (More than 15% ABV)

It is actually pretty hard to make a beer above 15% but it can be done. The reason it is difficult is that beer yeast can’t really survive past 15% alcohol and will start to give up and the fermentation will stall.

To achieve the higher ABV counts, brewers have to use special techniques such as freezing or straight up adding distilled alcohol to a traditionally brewed beer.

What is a high-gravity beer?

High-gravity beer is more of a brewer’s term because it refers to a beer with an original gravity above 1.075. Beers with higher gravity will typically end at a higher ABV than the average beer, around 10% ABV.

How do you determine alcohol content (ABV) in beer?

Most beer available for purchase will list the ABV somewhere on the can or bottle and it would be impossible to calculate the ABV unless you knew exactly how much ethanol is in the container along with the total volume.

With that information, you can calculate the ABV of beer by taking the amount of alcohol in fluid ounces or mL and dividing it by the total volume.

So, a 12-ounce beer with .72 ounces of alcohol would work out to be 6% ABV.