(a) Products known to the trade. The class of the malt beverage must be stated on the label (see § 7.63). The type of the malt beverage may be stated, but is not required to appear on the label. Statements of class and type must conform to the designation of the product as known to the trade. All parts of the designation must appear together.

(b) Malt beverage specialty products—(1) General. A malt beverage specialty product is a malt beverage that does not fall under any of the class designations set forth in §§ 7.142 through 7.144 and is not known to the trade under a particular designation, usually because of the addition of ingredients such as colorings, flavorings, or food materials or the use of certain types of production processes where the appropriate TTB officer has not determined that such ingredients or processes are generally recognized as traditional in the production of a fermented beverage designated as “beer,” “ale,” “porter,” “stout,” “lager,” or “malt liquor.”

(2) Designation. A malt beverage specialty product must be designated with a distinctive or fanciful name, together with a statement of the composition of the product, in accordance with § 7.147. This statement will be considered the class designation for the purposes of this part. All parts of the designation must appear together.

The following class designations may be used in accordance with this section:

(a) Any malt beverage, as defined in § 7.1, may be designated simply as a “malt beverage.”

(b)(1) The class designations “beer,” “ale,” “porter,” “stout,” “lager,” and “malt liquor” may be used to designate malt beverages that contain at least 0.5 percent alcohol by volume and that conform to the trade understanding of those designations. These designations may be preceded or followed by descriptions of the color of the product (such as “amber,” “brown,” “red,” or “golden”) as well as descriptive terms such as “dry,” “export,” “cream,” and “pale.”

(2) No product other than a malt beverage fermented at a comparatively high temperature, possessing the characteristics generally attributed to “ale,” “porter,” or “stout” and produced without the use of coloring or flavoring materials (other than those recognized in standard brewing practices) may bear any of these class designations.

The following special rules apply to specified class and type designations:

(a) Reconstituted malt beverages. Malt beverages that have been concentrated by the removal of water therefrom and reconstituted by the addition of water and carbon dioxide must for the purpose of this part be labeled in the same manner as malt beverages which have not been concentrated and reconstituted, except that there must appear immediately adjacent to, and as a part of, the class designation the statement “PRODUCED FROM____ __CONCENTRATE” (the blank to be filled in with the appropriate class designation). All parts of the class designation must appear in lettering of substantially the same size and kind. However, ice beers, described in paragraph (c) of this section, which are produced by the removal of less than 0.5 percent of the volume of the beer in the form of ice crystals and that retain beer character are not considered concentrated.

(b) Half and half. No product may be designated with the type designation “half and half” unless it is in fact composed of equal parts of two classes of malt beverages, the names of which are conspicuously stated immediately adjacent to the designation “half and half” (for example, “Half and Half, Porter and Stout”). This does not preclude the use of terms such as “half and half” as part of a distinctive or fanciful name that refers to flavors added to a malt beverage designated in accordance with trade understanding or with a statement of composition.

(c) Ice beer. Malt beverages supercooled during the brewing process to form ice crystals may be labeled with the type designation “ice” preceding the class designation (beer, ale, etc.).

(d) Black and tan. A product composed of two classes of malt beverages may be designated with the type designation “black and tan,” and the class and type designation is the names of the two classes of malt beverages in conjunction with “black and tan” (for example, “Black and Tan, Stout and Ale”).

(e) Wheat beer. Any “beer,” “ale,” “porter,” “stout,” “lager,” “malt liquor,” or other malt beverage made from a fermentable base that consists of at least 25 percent by weight malted wheat may be designated with the type designation “wheat” preceding the applicable class designation.

(f) Rye beer. Any “beer,” “ale,” “porter,” “stout,” “lager,” “malt liquor,” or other malt beverage made from a fermentable base that consists of at least 25 percent by weight malted rye may be designated with the type designation “rye” preceding the applicable class designation.

(g) Barley wine ale. The term “barley (or wheat or rye) wine ale” or “barley (or wheat or rye) wine style ale” may be used in accordance with trade understanding.

(h) Malt beverages aged in barrels—(1) General. Label designations for malt beverages aged in barrels or with woodchips, spirals, or staves derived from barrels may, but are not required to, include a description of how the product was aged. Thus, for example, acceptable designations for a standard beer aged in an oak barrel would include “beer,” “oak aged beer,” and “beer aged in an oak barrel.”

(2) Barrels previously used in the production or storage of wine or distilled spirits. Malt beverages aged in barrels previously used in the production or storage of wine or distilled spirits, or with woodchips, spirals, or staves derived from barrels previously used in the production or storage of wine or distilled spirits, or from woodchips previously used in the aging of distilled spirits or wine may, but are not required to, include a description of how the product was aged.

(i) Examples of acceptable designations for a standard beer aged in a wine barrel include “beer,” “beer aged in a wine barrel,” and “wine barrel aged beer.”

(ii) Examples of acceptable designations for an ale brewed with honey and aged in a bourbon barrel include “honey ale” and “bourbon barrel aged honey ale” but not simply “ale” or “bourbon barrel aged ale.”

(3) Misleading designations. Designations that create a misleading impression as to the identity of the product by emphasizing certain words or terms are prohibited. As set forth in § 7.122, designations may not mislead consumers as to the age, origin, identity, or other characteristics of the malt beverage. Examples of designations that would be prohibited under this provision are “bourbon ale,” “bourbon-flavored lager,” “Chardonnay lager,” or “lager with whisky flavors.”

(i) Other designations. Other type designations (such as “milk” preceding the class designation “stout”) may be applied in conformance with trade understanding.

(a) General. Any malt beverage that has been fermented or flavored only with one or more ingredients (such as honey or certain fruits) that the appropriate TTB officer has determined are generally recognized as traditional ingredients in the production of a fermented beverage designated as “beer,” “ale,” “porter,” “stout,” “lager,” or “malt liquor” may be labeled in accordance with trade understanding following the rules set forth in this section.

(1) A list of such traditional ingredients may be found on the TTB website (https://www.ttb.gov).

(2) If the malt beverage has also been fermented or flavored with ingredients that the appropriate TTB officer has not determined are generally recognized as traditional ingredients in the production of a fermented beverage designated as “beer,” “ale,” “porter,” “stout,” “lager,” or “malt liquor,” it is a malt beverage specialty and must be labeled in accordance with the statement of composition rules in § 7.147.

(b) Rules for designation. (1) A designation in accordance with trade understanding must identify the base product, such as “malt beverage,” “beer,” “ale,” “porter,” “stout,” “lager,” or “malt liquor” along with a modifier or explanation that provides the consumer with adequate information about the fruit, honey, or other food ingredient used in production of the malt beverage. The label may include additional information about the production process (such as “beer fermented with cherry juice”).

(2) Where more than one exempted ingredient is included, a designation in accordance with trade understanding may identify each ingredient (such as “Ale with cherry juice, cinnamon, and nutmeg”), refer to the ingredients by category (such as “Fruit ale,” “Spiced ale,” or “Ale with natural flavors”), or simply include the ingredient or ingredients that the bottler or importer believes best identify the product (such as “Cherry ale,” “Cinnamon ale,” or “Nutmeg ale”). The designation must distinguish the product from a malt beverage, beer, ale, porter, stout, lager, or malt liquor that is not brewed or flavored with any of these ingredients; thus, unmodified designations such as “beer,” “stout,” or “ale” would not be acceptable.

(c) Other requirements. All parts of the designation must appear together and must be readily legible on a contrasting background. Designations that create a misleading impression as to the identity of the product by emphasizing certain words or terms are prohibited.

(a) Products containing less than 0.5 percent of alcohol by volume must bear the class designation “malt beverage,” “cereal beverage,” or “near beer.”

(b) If the designation “near beer” is used, both words must appear in the same size and style of type, in the same color of ink, and on the same background.

(c) No product containing less than 0.5 percent of alcohol by volume may bear the class designations “beer,” “lager beer,” “lager,” “ale,” “porter,” “stout,” or any other class or type designation commonly applied to malt beverages containing 0.5 percent or more of alcohol by volume.

(a) Geographical names for distinctive types of malt beverages (other than names found under paragraph (b) of this section to have become generic) shall not be applied to malt beverages produced in any place other than the particular region indicated by the name unless:

(1) In direct conjunction with the name there appears the word “type” or the word “American”, or some other statement indicating the true place of production in lettering substantially as conspicuous as such name; and

(2) The malt beverages to which the name is applied conform to the type so designated. The following are examples of distinctive types of beer with geographical names that have not become generic; Dortmund, Dortmunder, Vienna, Wien, Wiener, Bavarian, Munich, Munchner, Salvator, Kulmbacher, Wurtzburger, Pilsen (Pilsener and Pilsner): Provided, That notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this section, beer which is produced in the United States may be designated as “Pilsen,” “Pilsener,” or “Pilsner” without further modification, if it conforms to such type.

(b) Only such geographical names for distinctive types of malt beverages as the appropriate TTB officer finds have by usage and common knowledge lost their geographical significance to such an extent that they have become generic shall be deemed to have become generic, e.g., India Pale Ale.

(c) Except as provided in § 7.64(b), geographical names that are not names for distinctive types of malt beverages shall not be applied to malt beverages produced in any place other than the particular place or region indicated in the name.

(a) A statement of composition is required to appear on the label for malt beverage specialty products, as defined in § 7.141(b), which are not known to the trade under a particular designation. For example, the addition of flavoring materials, colors, or artificial sweeteners may change the class and type of the malt beverage. The statement of composition along with a distinctive or fanciful name serves as the class and type designation for these products.

(b) When required by this part, a statement of composition must contain all of the following information, as applicable:

(1) Identify the base class and/or type designation. The statement of composition must clearly identify the base class and/or type designation of the malt beverage product (e.g., “beer,” “lager beer,” “lager,” “ale,” “porter,” “stout,” or “malt beverage”).

(2) Identify added flavoring material(s) used before, during, and after fermentation. The statement of composition must disclose fermentable or non-fermentable flavoring materials added to the malt beverage base class.

(i) If the flavoring material is used before or during the fermentation process, the statement of composition must indicate that the malt beverage was fermented or brewed with the flavoring material (such as “Beer Fermented with grapefruit juice” or “Grapefruit Ale”). If the flavoring material is added after fermentation, the statement of composition must describe that process, using terms such as “added,” “with,” “infused,” or “flavored” (such as “Grapefruit-flavored ale.”).

(ii) If a single flavoring material is used in the production of the malt beverage product, the flavoring material may be specifically identified (such as “Ale Fermented with grapefruit juice”) or generally referenced (such as “Ale with natural flavor”). If two or more flavoring materials are used in the production of the malt beverage, each flavoring material may be specifically identified (such as “lemon juice, kiwi juice” or “lemon and kiwi juice”) or the characterizing flavoring material may be specifically identified and the remaining flavoring materials may be generally referenced (such as “kiwi and other natural and artificial flavor(s)”), or all flavors may be generally referenced (such as “with artificial flavors”).

(3) Identify added coloring material(s). The statement of composition must disclose the addition of coloring material(s), whether added directly or through flavoring material(s). The coloring materials may be identified specifically (such as “caramel color,” “FD&C Red #40,” “annatto,” etc.) or as a general statement, such as “Contains certified color” for colors approved under 21 CFR subpart 74 or “artificially colored” to indicate the presence of any one or a combination of coloring material(s). However, FD&C Yellow No. 5, carmine, and cochineal extract require specific disclosure in accordance with § 7.63(b)(1) and (2) and that specific disclosure may appear either in the statement of composition or elsewhere in accordance with those sections.

(4) Identify added artificial sweeteners. The statement of composition must disclose any artificial sweetener that is added to a malt beverage product, whether the artificial sweetener is added directly or through flavoring material(s). The artificial sweetener may be identified specifically by either generic name or trademarked brand name, or as a general statement (such as “artificially sweetened”) to indicate the presence of any one or combination of artificial sweeteners. However, if aspartame is used, an additional warning statement is required in accordance with § 7.63(b)(4).