Is There Really Any Difference Between Malt Liquor and Beer?

Ask a beer-lover about their favorite IPA, or the difference between Citra and Galaxy hops, and you’re likely to find yourself on the receiving end of a passionate opinion. Yet if you were to ask the same person about their preferred malt liquor, chances are the response would be more muted.

Which brings us to the question: What are the actual differences between beer and malt liquor? Both are often packaged and marketed similarly and even look the same. Are they forever doomed to exist in separate realms?

“The primary difference between beer and malt liquor is rooted in the ingredients used when creating each beverage,” says Jared Rouben, brewmaster of Moody Tongue Sushi in New York City as well as Moody Tongue Brewing Company, a restaurant and brewery in Chicago that boasts two Michelin stars. “Beer traditionally incorporates malted grain, hops, and yeast to create a finished product, whereas malt liquor typically uses similar ingredients but also relies on extracts such as corn, rice, and dextrose for alcohol content and a sweeter taste profile.”

The similarity in ingredients — grain, hops, water, yeast — means many traditional malt liquor brands are viewed as a stylistic subset of beer, rather than something completely different. However, legally speaking, beer is often seen as a subcategory of malt liquor, which many states define as encompassing all alcoholic drinks made from fermented grain juice. 

Regulations from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms define most drinks using common beer ingredients as “malted beverages,” but state-by-state definitions vary as to what is a “malt liquor,” often tied to the ABV of the product being sold. This makes the distinctions between beer and malt liquor murky.

The elevated sugar levels and inclusion of starch-rich adjuncts like corn and rice (which get converted to sugars during the brewing process) allow classic styles of malt liquor to come in at a higher alcohol-by-volume, generally from 5–12% ABV or more. In addition to creating more alcohol during fermentation, malt liquor’s added sugars create a much mellower profile that neutralizes most of the bitterness from the already minimal hops.

Not that beer can’t be sweet — any number of fruit-infused beers and summertime shandys are. Rouben brews beers like the Moody Tongue Caramelized Chocolate Churro Porter and the Orange Blossom Belgian Blonde. But the more overt sweetness of many malt liquors is often of a different level and assertiveness.

That sense of amplified sweetness may make sipping malt liquor pleasurable on its own, but it can pose challenges when pairing with food. “I would suggest that beer has more flexibility when pairing…as a result of the wide variety of flavor and aromatic profiles, largely due to the variety of hops and yeast strains incorporated in beers,” says Rouben. “Malt liquor traditionally uses a minimal amount of hops, as well as the fact that sweeter tastes can overwhelm one's palate, often making sweeter beverages difficult to pair with dishes other than desserts.” 

Balancing that sweetness with salty and more savory foods can occasionally work to bring further balance, not unlike Sauternes alongside foie gras, or Port wine with blue cheese.

One advantage that malt liquor tends to have over craft beer, however, is its price, which “will vary from producer to producer,” says Rouben. “However, many malt liquor options are less expensive because the adjuncts used in fermentation are less expensive than malted grains, as well as the reduced usage of hops, which have grown increasingly expensive over the past ten to fifteen years.”