I see that some beers are advertised as a malt liquor. I thought all beer is a malt liquor, since its made from malted barely.
I believe it had to do with liquor laws. Depending on the state if it was labeled beer, the ABV couldn’t be on the label.
Legally, malt liquor is above a certain ABV, so even strong ales were sometimes labeled as malt liquor.
Raineer beer didn’t advertise ABV, but Raineer Ale (green death) did. Also available in 40s.
In Oregon, I remember seeing strong imports labeled as malt liquor.
I believe that world wide, malt liquor is 5%, and above. See how the % is atop the 5 on the computer? Coincidence? Also,in USA there are some states that need beers over 5% labeled as Ales! Look at Michelob Amber bock, 5.2%, then look at the box it comes in and in small type you’ll find Ale in Texas… Sneezles61
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I thought malt liquor meant you had to drink it out of paper bag 
Seriously I can’t figure out why that is. You can buy plenty of beers today, especially Belgian or Belgian style that are much higher than 5%. Have some of one of my favorites in the fridge, Victory Golden Monkey weighing in at 9.2%
Every try Mickey’s malt liquor? Now there is some disturbing tasting stuff. A friend couldn’t wait to get me to try it. All I could say after choking down the first sip way “wow”.
HD4Mark, crazy you mention Ickey Mickey’s, I’ve got an older book,1970’s, that talks about brews in production back then, and in the end of the book it explained a double blind taste test and proclaimed Mickeys the winner! 
Sneezles61
Could the terminology “malt liquor” just have origins in an advertising campaign. Something like Colt 45. My memory isn’t that good. A campaign to differentiate this cheap high ABV beer from other higher ABV beers which were usually imports.
