My beer is stronger then your beer, eh!

Tomorrow we're traveling up to my homeland of Canada for about 10 days for vacation. That should allow ample time to seek out new beer that I haven't tried as well as visit with friends and relatives. Thinking about drinking new Canadian beer also made me think of the age old myth that Canadian beer is typically stronger then American beer. The confusion comes from how alcohol was traditionally measured in the two countries. Canada listed the alcohol content of its beer by volume (ABV), while the U.S. listed it by weight (ABW). A beer that is 4.0% by volume is about 3.2% by weight, so if comparing just the numbers without understanding the difference, the American beer would appear to contain less alcohol. The fact of the matter is, they're both roughly the same. Although most American breweries now list alcohol by volume, the myth still does continue.