Alcohol stronger in this decade than in, say, 1950?

[TheChodja]

I was talking around with a couple friends and they brought up a topic that I haven't been able to find any backing for. It's got me pretty curious. It makes sense, but you always hear about how alcohol back in the day was like a kick in the face.

Is alcohol content more potent now in modern days than it was in the 50s, 40s, 60s, etc? My friends said it's stronger now.

 

[jfr1111]

The Shut up About Barclay Perkins blog has a lot of tables regarding British and sometimes Canadian, American and Australian beers of old ; tables that will give you the OG and FG. I wasn't there in the 40's, 50's or 60's, so I couldn't tell you, but in America, there's certainly an underlying "more alcohol is better" mantra in the craft brew scene. Not all micros go by it, but domestic beers with an alcohol content of 10%+ are a lot more plentiful today than they were 50 years ago, simply becaus of the revival of "dead" continental styles.

I'd wager you'd get a very different answer if you were asking about Germany or Belgium.

 

[PowellAvenueBrew]

I would agree that strong ales are a much larger category now. This year at GABF it was the fourth most entered category. There are some great strong ales out there but I prefer a good session beer.

 

[Misfit]

the pot is stronger now and days but i have some gin from about 100 years ago and its no weaker than it was back then. beer wise im not sure

 

[TheChodja]

I actually got a pretty good answer from someone elsewhere. I thought I'd share with you. I haven't checked the facts or anything, I took it at face value. lol.

"The standard proof for vodka has not changed in the US since the repeal of prohibition in 1933. Vodka is usually bottled at 80 proof, or 40% alcohol by volume (abv), so the answer in the case of Smirnoff vodka is, there is no difference in the strength. Spirits were, and are typically watered down to 80 proof to keep their prices down, since taxation in most of the world is determined by the level of alcohol in the bottle. Today more spirits of all kinds are available with higher alcohol contents than was the case in the 1950s, so in fact the answer with regards to spirits over-all would be that they are stronger today than in the 50s. Where whisk(e)y was also typically bottled at 40% abv in the 1950s, today the standard has risen to 43%, with many now bottled at 46% and a growing list of product available at what is considered cask strength, anywhere from 50-62% abv. American whiskeys bottled at 50% abv, or 100 proof, designated as Bottled in Bond (bib), have always been available, then and now, but they were far rarer in the 1950s than they are today."