Written by 
We handle a great deal of beer, wine and distilled spirits labeling and compliance work and we always love to share great resources when we find them. You have completed the hard work of bringing your very first beer or your new seasonal style from concept to finished product and you are finally ready for distribution and sale. The last thing any brewer or brand owner wants to deal with is a delay in process due to a lack of label approval from the Federal Alcohol Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB). According to the TTB, one of the most common problems they see on beer/malt beverage label applications is that the net contents are incorrectly stated, which requires the TTB to request a correction before they can issue your Certificate of Label Approval (or COLA).
Here’s a handy chart created by the TTB to help you know how the mandatory net contents statement has to appear:
| Beer/Malt Beverage Net Contents Statements | |||
| If the container size is: | Then the net contents must be shown in: | Examples | |
| If the fluid ounces are: | Then the net contents statement must be: | ||
| Less than 1 pint | Fluid ounces or fractions of a pint | 8 ounces | 8 fluid ounces (fl. oz.) or ½ pint (pt.) or 0.5 pint (pt.) |
| 1 pint | Pints | 16 ounces | 1 pint (pt.) |
| More than 1 pint but less than 1 quart | Pints and fluid ounces or fractions of a quart | 20 ounces | 1 pint (pt.), 4 fluid ounces (fl. oz.) or 5/8 quart (qt.) or 0.63 quart (qt.) |
| 1 quart | Quarts | 32 ounces | 1 quart (qt.) |
| More than 1 quart but less than 1 gallon | Quarts, pints and fluid ounces or fractions of a gallon | 60 ounces | 1 quart (qt.), 1 pint (pt.), 12 fluid ounces (fl. oz.) or 15/32 gallon (gal.) or 0.47 gallon (gal.) |
| 1 gallon | Gallons | 128 ounces | 1 gallon (gal.) |
| More than 1 gallon | Gallons and fractions of gallons | 166 ounces | 1 ¼ gallons (gals.) or 1.25 gallons (gals.) |
| Note: When using ounces be sure to state “fluid ounces” or “fl. oz.” |
Labeling issues can be tricky, but fortunately the TTB website is full of great resources and guides that do a pretty decent job in troubleshooting most issued faced by those seeking labeling approval. In our firm’s experience, the TTB is great to work with, no matter the application or approval issue being faced.
Last modified: November 10, 2020
