Decoding Alcohol Proof
E149

Decoding Alcohol Proof

Why does a bottle say 40% alcohol and 80 proof—and why do we need two numbers for the exact same drink?

Alcohol proof sounds complicated, but once you understand the surprisingly simple math—and the strange history behind it—it becomes much easier to know how much alcohol is actually in your glass.

In this episode, Mike Hardenbrook breaks down:
  • What alcohol proof actually means and how to calculate it
  • The bizarre history behind the word “proof”
  • Why higher proof doesn’t always mean you’re consuming more alcohol
  • How beer, wine, and spirits can contain similar amounts of pure alcohol
  • Why cocktails and overproof spirits can make tracking your intake tricky
  • What really determines how strongly a drink affects you
🎧 Tune in to decode alcohol proof, discover the strange story behind the number, and learn what actually matters when figuring out how much alcohol you’re drinking.