ABV, or alcohol by volume, is the universal way of stating how much alcohol is in a drink, expressed as a percentage of the total liquid. A standard spirit runs about 40% ABV, wine sits around 12%, and beer around 5%. A genuinely alcohol-free drink is 0.0% ABV. The number carries real weight in this category, because the line between a drink labeled non-alcoholic and one that is truly alcohol-free is often a fraction of a percent, and that fraction matters to the people who care about it.
Why It Matters
Knowing ABV is how you read a label honestly. Plenty of products marketed as non-alcoholic still contain trace alcohol, up to 0.5% ABV, while 0.0% means none at all. For anyone avoiding alcohol for medical, religious, or personal reasons, that difference is not academic. It is the entire point.
Where You'll Use It
Reading bottle labels and menus, and deciding whether a given product is right for you.
Worth Knowing
Proof
Proof is an older measure of alcohol content, equal to twice the ABV in the United States, so a 40% ABV spirit is 80 proof. The term survives mainly in the phrase "zero proof," which simply means no alcohol.