What does it mean when it says % alcohol by volume?
It means exactly what it says. If you could split the liquid into pure alcohol in one container and the remaining non-alcohol liquid into another container then you would find that the alcohol portion occupies the volume of the given percentage of the total liquor. So 20% by volume is 1 part alcohol by volume and 4 parts non-alcohol by volume. Liquor that is approximately 50% or more by volume is flammable. It used to be considered “proof” of the alcohol content if you could light it on fire. Thus 50% by volume became 100 proof. The proof is always 2x the percent by volume of alcohol. Off the top of my head (may not be exact) Beer ranges from about 3% to 9% (in most cases) Wine can gets up to around 15% or so Most liquors are much higher than this ranging around 35-40% Some liquors are MUCH higher such as Bacardi 151 which is as the name implies 151 proof or about 75% and Everclear which is something like 95%.
