• “Alcoholic beverage" and “alcoholic liquor" mean any liquid or solid containing more than one-half of one percent alcohol by volume and capable of being consumed by a human being.  ORS 471.001(1).
• ​​Denatured alcohol is ethanol (also called ethyl alcohol or beverage alcohol), with additives used in its production and products made with it, that make it unfit for human consumption. While it is possible for a human to consume a product made with denatured alcohol, given the primary function of a product made with denatured alcohol is not human consumption, products containing denatured alcohol are not considered an “alcoholic beverage" or “alcoholic liquor" in Oregon.
• “Nonalcoholic" is any product, liquid or solid, with an alcohol content that is equal to or less than one-half of one percent of alcohol by volume.  This means no license from the OLCC is needed to make it, import it into Oregon, distribute it, or sell it, it may be sold 24 hours a day, and minors (individuals under age 21) may possess and drink it. 

• “Cider" means an alcoholic beverage made from the fermentation of the juice of apples or pears that contains not more than 8.5% alcohol by volume.  “Cider" may be flavored, sparkling, carbonated, or fortified; but “cider" does not include wine. The juice is not required to come only from apples or pears. ORS 471.023 and 473.015. 

• “Distilled liquor" means any alcoholic beverage that does not qualify as a wine, cider, or malt beverage. ORS 471.001(4).
• ​Other common names for “distilled liquor" are distilled spirits, hard liquor, hard alcohol, ethyl alcohol, and ethanol.
• Typically, distilled liquor comes from a distillation process.  Oregon considers distilling to be any process that separates beverage alcohol from any substance or mixture.  The two primary methods of distilling are using a still to apply heat and freeze distillation.
• In Oregon, it is not a requirement that the liquor be distilled to be considered distilled liquor.  A fermented liquor that does not meet the definition of cider, malt beverage, or wine would be considered a distilled liquor. 

• “Malt beverage" means beer, ale, porter, stout and other similar fermented beverages that contain more than one-half of one percent and not more than 16 percent of alcohol by volume and that are brewed or produced from malt, wholly or in part, or from rice, grain, bran, glucose, sugar or molasses as a substitute for malt. Malt beverages do not include cider, mead, sake or wine.  ORS 471.001(6).
• ​OLCC relies on the federal definition of “grain" to mean barley, canola, corn, flaxseed, mixed grain, oats, rye, sorghum, soybeans, sunflower seed, triticale, and wheat and the subsequent definition for each specific grain. 

• “Wine" means any fermented liquor or fruit juice (that is not cider or malt beverage) and that contains not more than 21 percent alcohol by volume. Wine may contain distilled liquor and still be considered “wine" as long as the final alcohol content of the wine is not more than 21 percent alcohol by volume. ORS 471.001(11).​
  

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