What's in a Beer Label?

Call me an engineer, call me a nerd, call me a geek, but I love beer labels and packaging produced by craft breweries. My fondness of the packaging is only second the contents of the bottle (or can). Many of them have clever names and eye catching artwork to the point where we may be running out of names for different craft beers (warning: exaggeration ahead). Part of the reason for this is creativity that is possible when producing beer at a much smaller quantity. Another reason is small breweries jockeying for a limited customer base. When more and more craft breweries begin to produce beer, that means more beers vying for very limited shelf space. It is becoming increasingly difficult to get enough beers on the shelves, and ultimately into your fridge. But I digress...

Much more colorful than the typical big Brewery's silver, white, and blue cans.

Labeling requirements vary by state, but generally what you will find on most beer labels are the name of the beer, style of beer, name of the brewery, city it was brewed in, alcohol content, and a government warning. I love creating my own labels, and you can see many of them in previous posts. I make mine in Microsoft Paint. All of the labels must get approved by the state agency, and from what I've heard, it is a difficult task.

Other items that I've seen on craft beer cans are OG, FG, IBU, and ABV. I've seen OG much more than FG, and they stand for original gravity and final gravity.

Science time (I can't help it, I'm an engineer):
The OG and FG are measurements of specific gravity of the beer before and after fermentation. Alcohol content is calculated based off of the difference between the OG and FG. Specific gravity is a measurement of density relative to liquid water. Water has a specific gravity of 1.000.  This means that a strong barleywine will have an OG of 1.120, and a light lager will have an OG of 1.028. That same barleywine may have an FG around 1.080, while the light lager will have an FG of 1.008.




Specific gravity is measured with a hydrometer

I know... too many numbers. I bore myself sometimes... What I'm getting at is you can determine how much alcohol will be in a beer based off of the OG and FG. Here is a cool chart showing OG and FG ranges for beer styles.

ABV is an easy one, alcohol by volume (that's usually how you decide between "one more" and "I should not drink a 12% English Barleywine after drinking a six pack of Natty Ice"). IBU is international battering unit, and it describes the hop bitterness in a beer. IPAs have 60-100+ IBUs while light lagers have 10-15 IBUs. Pretty straightforward, especially compared to specific gravity. Now go surprise your friends with some newfound beer knowledge. Beware, you may get called a beer nerd.

Next time you get the latest craft beer in the bar or restaurant, ask to keep the bottle, and take a look at it. The breweries put a lot of effort and creativity into them. It's worth taking a look at. In my unbiased opinion, you can get so much more flavor out of a beer when you understand what you are drinking. With a little help from the beer label, I think you can enjoy your craft beer that much more.

Now what you all came here for: to hear about where you can taste some delicious homebrew from C'est Bon Biere. Our next beer festival will be at the 3rd Annual Bayou Beer Fest in Houma, Louisiana on November 14. C'est Bon Biere is proud to be the only home brewers to be represented at all three years of the festival. Come visit us, and try one of our three beers to sample: Belgian Missile Crisis Belgian Wit, Blueberry Bread Pudding Barleywine, and Chaos Theory Vienna Lager. Since this post was about labels, here is the label for our newest beer:

Be on the lookout for some new equipment upgrades from C'est Bon Biere. Until next time, drink local, drink good beer.