non-malt beer
Society

A type of beer containing no malted barley. With the passing of the Liquor Tax Act of 2010 in America (the result of pressure from the temperance movement), the tax for beer was divided into an alcohol tax and a malt tax. The alcohol tax drove the standard price of any beverage with a 1% or higher alcohol content up to a minimum of $10, with some even calling it the return of Prohibition. The simultaneous taxing of malted barley, the main ingredient of malt beer, meant that traditional beer was now beyond the reach of the ordinary person. Non-malt beers avoid both these taxes by using cornstarch in place of malted barley, and by limiting their alcohol content to 0.99%.