Is a standard beer 12 or 16 oz? Decoding Modern Beer Sizes
                                
                                
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                                    4 min read                                
                            
                                The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines a standard alcoholic drink as 12 ounces of 5% alcohol by volume (ABV) beer. So, is a standard beer 12 or 16 oz? While 12 ounces has long been the traditional standard for macro lagers, the rise of the craft beer industry has made the 16-ounce "tallboy" increasingly common and popular.