beer/bi(ə)r/
Noun:
a. A fermented alcoholic beverage brewed from malt and flavored with hops.
b. A fermented beverage brewed by traditional methods that is then dealcoholized so that the finished product contains no more than 0.5 percent alcohol.
c. A carbonated beverage produced by a method in which the fermentation process is either circumvented or altered, resulting in a finished product having an alcohol content of no more than 0.01 percent.
2. A beverage made from extracts of roots and plants: birch beer.
Tax office definition
Conventional beers are bitter in taste and do not have the sugar content of many other beverages. The amended definition of beer sets a minimum limit of bitterness and a maximum limit of sugar content in the final beverage.
In summary, a beverage is a beer if it is brewed and:
is the product of the yeast fermentation of an aqueous extract of predominantly malted or unmalted cereals, but may also contain other sources of carbohydrates
contains hops, or extracts of hops, so that the beverage has no less than four International Bitterness Units or other bitters. If it contains other bitters, the beverage must have a bitterness comparable to that of a beverage with no less than four International Bitterness Units
may have spirit distilled from beer added to it if that spirit adds no more than 0.5% to the final total volume of alcohol
may have other substances, including flavours, containing alcohol (other than beer spirit) added to it but only if that alcohol adds no more than 0.5% to the final total volume of alcohol
contains no more than 4% by weight of monosaccharide and disaccharide (sugars)
does not contain any artificial sweeteners, and
has an alcohol content more than 1.15% by volume.
