I read somewhere that Russian beer is 10% - 12% alcohol, and is considered a soft drink, very nearly. True?
The law which gave beer the status of soft drinks have been overruled this year (or some months more than a year I don't remember exactly).
But there was a limitation of proportion of alcohol.
Sale of beer is less restricted than sale of wine or strong alcohol, but it applies to beer of certain strength. AFAIK it's 5% vol.
Consumption of beer is regulated like consumption of other alcohol drinks now (ban to openly drink in public places, except bars and so on), but the police fail to enforce it.
Advertising has also been restricted (no ads on TV before 11 at night, no human characters). It makes major TV channels show only beer commercials after 11 pm. Some private commercials have 20 mins long ads' blocks - all about beer.
Yup, but most European beer is that. NC finally passed a law allowing 12% brew...yayayayyayhooooo, but I'll be moving out of the state soon enough and back into crap beer. :0( I drank 20% beer in Germany, Bache Beer, something the monks brew and sell only on Easter and Christmas (and the month before them).