As far as the southeast goes, this explains a little bit as to why some states see the likes of Goose Island Bourbon County Stout (15% ABV) and Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA (18.5%).
Not sure of the origin of this graphic, but the data on state ABV (alcohol by volume) or ABW (alcohol by weight).
Some states, such as Georgia, have legally sold heavyweight beers like Brewdog’s Sink the Bismark (41%) or Tactical Nuclear Penguin (32%), but these were brought in as a “spirit” instead of malted beverage/beer. That move also limited sales of those beers to beer stores that also were licensed to sell liquor.
H/T @WingNutz1
Tennessee is not technically correct. Beer stores and wine/liquor stores have to be separated. In beer/grocery stores, only lower ABV beers can be sold (5% sounds right). High ABV beers can only be sold in liquor stores, but I’ve bought Dogfish Head’s Old School Barleywine in a Nashville Liquor store (15%).
6.2% is the cutoff in TN for beer in grocery stores. anything above 6.2% is sold though a wine and spirits retailer