bead proof

English

Noun

bead proof (uncountable)

1. (distilleries) A certain degree of strength in alcoholic liquor, as formerly ascertained by the floating or sinking of glass globules of different specific gravities thrown into it, and later by more accurate meters.
2. A degree of strength in alcoholic liquor as shown by beads or small bubbles remaining on its surface, or at the side of the glass, when shaken.

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for “bead proof”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)