Malt liquor is a type of mass market

beer Beer is one of the oldest and the most widely consumed type of alcoholic drink in the world, and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches, mainly derived from ce ...

with high alcohol content, most closely associated with North America. Legally, it often includes any alcoholic beverage with 5% or more alcohol by volume made with

malted barley Malt is germinated cereal grain that has been dried in a process known as "malting". The grain is made to germinate by soaking in water and is then halted from germinating further by drying with hot air. Malted grain is used to make beer, whi ...

. In common usage, it refers to beers containing a high alcohol content, generally above 6%, which are made with ingredients and processes resembling those for

American-style lager American lager or North American lager is pale lager that is produced in the United States. The pale lager-style beer originated in Europe in the mid-19th century, and moved to the US with German immigrants. As a general trend outside of Bavaria ...

Manufacture

Malt liquor is a strong lager or ale in which sugar, corn or other adjuncts are added to the malted barley to boost the total amount of fermentable sugars in the

wort Wort () is the liquid extracted from the mashing process during the brewing of beer or whisky. Wort contains the sugars, the most important being maltose and maltotriose, that will be fermented by the brewing yeast to produce alcohol. Wort als ...

. This gives a boost to the final alcohol concentration without creating a heavier or sweeter taste. Also, they are not heavily hopped, so they are not very

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Brewing and legal definitions

Malt liquor is typically straw to pale amber in color. While traditional premium lager is made primarily from

barley Barley (''Hordeum vulgare''), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains, particularly in Eurasia as early as 10,000 years ago. Globally 70% of barley p ...

, water, and hops, malt liquors tend to make much greater use of inexpensive adjuncts such as corn,

rice Rice is the seed of the grass species '' Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima'' (African rice). The name wild rice is usually used for species of the genera '' Zizania'' and '' Porteresia'', both wild and domesticat ...

, or dextrose. Use of these adjuncts, along with the addition of special enzymes, results in a higher percentage of alcohol than an average beer. Higher alcohol versions, sometimes called " high-gravity" or just "HG", may contain high levels of

fusel alcohol Fusel alcohols or fuselol, also sometimes called fusel oils in Europe, are mixtures of several higher alcohols (those with more than two carbons, chiefly amyl alcohol) produced as a by-product of alcoholic fermentation. The word ''Fusel'' is Ge ...

s, which gives off solvent- or fuel-like aromas and flavors.Breaking Out the Forty
Beer Advocate.com. March 21, 2001. Accessed on December 16, 2007. Owing to inconsistencies in American alcoholic beverage regulations, which can vary from state to state, the term "malt liquor" lacks a stable definition. In some states, malt liquor refers to any alcoholic beverage made by

fermenting Fermentation is a metabolic process that produces chemical changes in organic substrates through the action of enzymes. In biochemistry, it is narrowly defined as the extraction of energy from carbohydrates in the absence of oxygen. In food p ...

grain and water; in these states a

non-alcoholic beer Low-alcohol beer is beer with little or no alcohol content and aims to reproduce the taste of beer while eliminating (or at least reducing) the inebriating effects of standard alcoholic brews. Most low-alcohol beers are lagers, but there are some ...

may also be called a non-alcoholic or non-intoxicating malt liquor. In some states, products labeled "beer" must fall below a certain alcohol content, and beers that exceed the mark must be labeled as "malt liquor". While ordinary beers in the United States average around 4-5% alcohol by volume, malt liquors typically range from 6% up to 9% alcohol by volume. A typical legal definition is

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

's Rev. Stat. ss. 12-47-103(19), which provides that:

"Malt Liquors" includes beer and shall be construed to mean any beverage obtained by the alcoholic fermentation of any infusion or decoction of barley, malt, hops or any other similar products, or any combination thereof, in water containing more than three and one fifth percent of alcohol by weight.

Alcohol percentages measured by weight translate into larger figures when re-expressed as alcohol percentages by volume, because ethanol is less dense than water.

History

The term "malt liquor" is documented in England in 1690 as a general term encompassing both beer and ale. The first mention of the term in North America appears in a patent issued by the Canadian government on July 6, 1842, to one G. Riley for "an improved method of brewing ale, beer, porter, and other maltliquors." The

Clix Clix, CLIX, etc. may refer to: Technology * Clix (ISP), a Portuguese triple play brand * CLiX (markup), a formal XML schema validation language and method of using valid XML for overlapping markup * Clix (miniatures), a system of miniatures games p ...

brand is often credited as the first malt liquor made in the United States, granted a

patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A ...

in 1948. The first widely successful malt liquor brand in America was Country Club, which was produced in the early 1950s by the M. K. Goetz Brewing Company in

St. Joseph, Missouri St. Joseph is a city in and the county seat of Buchanan County, Missouri. Small parts of St. Joseph extend into Andrew County. Located on the Missouri River, it is the principal city of the St. Joseph Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includ ...

. Other popular contemporary brands include Colt 45, St. Ides,

Mickey's Mickey's is a brand of malt liquor made by the Miller Brewing Company. It has a 5.6% ABV. The brand was created by Sterling Brewery in Evansville, Indiana, which brewed it from 1962 through 1972. It is known for its bright green barrel-shaped, ...

, Steel Reserve, King Cobra, and

Olde English 800 Olde English 800 is a brand of American malt liquor produced by the Miller Brewing Company. It was introduced in 1964 and owned by Miller Brewing Company since 1999. It is available in a variety of serving sizes including, since the late 1980s ...

Advertising

The core market for malt liquor brewers in the United States in recent decades has been the

Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ...

and

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties forme ...

populations. Brewers' use of target marketing in advertising malt liquor primarily to young,

inner-city The term ''inner city'' has been used, especially in the United States, as a euphemism for majority-minority lower-income residential districts that often refer to rundown neighborhoods, in a downtown or city centre area. Sociologists someti ...

, black males has been controversial, due to the drink's higher alcohol content and the perceived vulnerability of the target audience. Brewers and advertisers have stated that they simply advertise to those who already buy their products. Critics have objected to the targeting of a segment of the population suffering disproportionately from alcohol-related disease and poor access to medical care. In order to highlight the potency of malt liquor, brand names have stressed powerful imagery such as Colt 45, Big Bear, and Power Master, and used slogans such as "It's got more" or "The Real Power". Power and sexual dominance have been common themes in advertising. Ads for Power Master were eventually banned in the United States due to regulations against advertising the strength of alcoholic beverages. The

National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), as part of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, supports and conducts biomedical and behavioural research on the causes, consequences, treatment, and prevention of alcoholism ...

(NIAAA) has reported that African Americans suffer disproportionate rates of

cirrhosis Cirrhosis, also known as liver cirrhosis or hepatic cirrhosis, and end-stage liver disease, is the impaired liver function caused by the formation of scar tissue known as fibrosis due to damage caused by liver disease. Damage causes tissue rep ...

of the liver and other alcohol-related health problems. In light of such statistics, African-American community leaders and some health officials have concluded that targeting high-alcohol beverage ads at this segment of the population is unethical and socially irresponsible. In 1991, U.S. Surgeon General Antonia Novello criticized all alcoholic beverage companies for "unabashedly targeting teenagers" with "sexual imagery, cartoons, and rock and rap music" in television and print ads.

Container size

In the American vernacular, a forty-ounce or simply a forty is a glass or plastic bottle that holds of malt liquor. Malt liquors are commonly sold in 40 fluid ounce bottles, among other sizes, as opposed to the standard bottle that contains a single serving of beer, although many malt liquors are offered in various volumes. After the introduction of 40-ounce containers, which contain roughly five Standard drinks, "40s" became a favorite high of many youth in inner-city areas. Examples of malt liquors sold in forty ounce bottles include

, Colt 45,

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40, Black Fist, Country Club, Black Bull, Labatt Blue Dry 6.1/7.1/8.1/9.1/10.1, WildCat, Molson Dry 6.5/7.5/8.5/10.1, Private Stock, Big Bear, St. Ides, Steel Reserve 211, B40 Bull Max, King Cobra, and

Hurricane A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...

Dogfish Head Brewery Dogfish Head Brewery is a brewing company based in Milton, Delaware founded by Sam and Mariah Calagione and, as of 2019, owned by the Boston Beer Company. It opened in 1995 and produces 262,000 barrels of beer annually. Select brews (includi ...

has sporadically produced a high-end bottle-conditioned forty called "Liquor de Malt".Liquor de Malt
Dogfish Head Brewery. Accessed on March 27, 2008. Forties are often mentioned in hip-hop and rap culture by rap stars endorsing the "40" Ounce tradition. A similar trend was common around the late 1990s' and early 2000s' punk scene, with such songs as "40.oz Casualty" by

The Casualties The Casualties are an American hardcore punk band from New York City, founded by vocalist Jorge Herrera, Hank (guitar), Colin Wolf (vocals), Mark Yoshitomi (bass) and Yureesh Hooker (drums) in 1990. In July 2017, it was announced on the band's F ...

, "Rock the 40. Oz." by

Leftöver Crack Leftöver Crack is an American punk rock band formed in 1998, following the breakup of Choking Victim. The band is currently signed to Tankcrimes for CD releases, and Alternative Tentacles for vinyl releases. Leftöver Crack spans several ...

, and "

40oz. to Freedom ''40oz. to Freedom'' is the debut studio album by American ska punk band Sublime, originally released on June 1, 1992 on Skunk Records. It was later reissued by MCA. ''40oz. to Freedoms sound blended various forms of Jamaican music, including ska ...

" by Sublime. At least for a brief period in the mid-1990s, some brands of malt liquor, including Olde English 800, Colt 45, and Mickey's, were available in even larger, 64-ounce glass bottles. Forty-ounce bottles are not permitted in some US states, including

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, where the largest container that a malt beverage may be sold at retail is . Florida Statutes, Title XXXIV, Chapter 563; see item (6)
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International

American malt liquor brands are rarely exported to Europe. American-style malt liquors were made in Britain in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Some were American brands brewed under license, notably Colt 45; some were not. They were generally 5% ABV. They were heavily marketed but failed in the market. However, similar inexpensive high-alcohol beers are available. In

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...