What does ABV stand for? On a can, bottle or menu, ABV stands for alcohol by volume. It tells you what share of the liquid is pure alcohol, written as a percent. A drink marked 5% ABV is 5 parts alcohol in every 100 parts of drink.
The number lets you compare one drink with another at a glance. Two glasses can look the same size and hold very different amounts of alcohol, and the ABV is what shows the gap.
Quick facts
Stands for
Alcohol by volumeType
InitialismWritten as
A percent, such as 4.5% ABVSeen on
Beer cans, wine labels, spirit bottles, bar menusProof
In the US, proof is twice the ABVRelated terms
Proof, ABW (alcohol by weight), IBU
What does ABV stand for on a label?
Break the phrase apart and each piece tells you something.
- Alcohol: the ethanol in the drink, the kind that causes intoxication.
- By: measured as a part of the whole.
- Volume: the share is counted by space taken up, not by weight.
So a wine at 13% ABV means 13 percent of what is in the bottle, by volume, is alcohol. The rest is mostly water, plus small amounts of sugar, acids and flavor.
Typical ABV numbers
Every drink is different, but most fall into broad ranges.
| Drink | Usual ABV | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Light beer | About 3 to 4.5% | Lower alcohol, often lower calories |
| Regular beer | About 4 to 6% | Most cans and bottles land here |
| Strong or craft beer | 6 to 12% or more | Some styles run well above average |
| Wine | About 11 to 15% | Fortified wines run higher |
| Spirits | About 40% | Many bottles are 80 proof |
Some beers, like many styles of IPA, often sit above the average, so it pays to check the label instead of guessing.
ABV and proof
In the United States, spirits often list proof next to the ABV. The rule is simple: proof is twice the ABV.
- 40% ABV is 80 proof.
- 50% ABV is 100 proof.
- 60% ABV is 120 proof.
On a bottle: "45% Alc./Vol. (90 proof)." Both numbers say the same thing. "Alc./Vol." is just another way of writing ABV.
Why the percent matters for serving size
The ABV changes how much alcohol is in a single pour. A standard drink in the US holds about 14 grams of pure alcohol. That works out to roughly 12 ounces of 5% beer, 5 ounces of 12% wine or 1.5 ounces of 40% spirits. A 12 ounce can of 10% beer holds about two standard drinks.
That is also why ABV is different from BAC, blood alcohol concentration. ABV describes the drink. BAC is a reading taken from the drinker's body.
Writing ABV in a sentence
- "This stout is 8% ABV, so I will stick to one."
- "The menu lists the ABV next to each beer."
- "Low ABV drinks are popular at daytime events."
- "Check the ABV before you mix a punch."
Say it letter by letter, "A B V." Write "an ABV of 6%," with "an" because A starts with a vowel sound. It is usually all capitals. Some labels use lowercase "abv" or "alc/vol," which mean the same thing.
Letters often seen next to ABV
- ABW: alcohol by weight. Because alcohol is lighter than water, the ABW number comes out a bit lower than the ABV for the same drink.
- IBU: International Bitterness Units, a measure of how bitter a beer is.
- NA: non alcoholic, used for drinks with very little or no alcohol.
Short forms like these are everywhere on menus and labels. Browse more of them in the famous acronyms collection, or read about the difference between acronyms and abbreviations.
Questions people ask
What does 5% ABV mean?
It means 5 percent of the drink, by volume, is pure alcohol. In a 12 ounce can, that is about 0.6 ounces of alcohol.
How is ABV different from proof?
Proof is a second way of showing alcohol strength, used mainly for spirits in the US. Proof equals twice the ABV, so 40% ABV is 80 proof.
Is ABV the same as BAC?
No. ABV describes how strong a drink is, while BAC, blood alcohol concentration, measures what ends up in the drinker's bloodstream.
What is considered a high ABV beer?
Most beers fall between about 4 and 6 percent. Beers above about 8 percent are generally seen as strong.
How do you pronounce ABV?
Say the letters one by one: "A B V." Nobody reads the three letters as a single word.