The United States v. Standard Brewery, Incorporated case in 1919 revolved around the issue of whether or not a brewery's beer was non-intoxicating and thus exempt from prohibition laws. The government seized 1,000 barrels of beer produced by Standard Brewery under the Lever Act (which prohibited production of intoxicating beverages during World War I) on grounds that it contained more than one-half percent alcohol content making it an 'intoxicating liquor'. However, Standard Brewery argued that their product was not intoxicating and therefore should not be subject to seizure. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the U.S., stating that any beverage containing over half-percent alcohol fell within the definition of "intoxicating liquors" as per Volstead Act used for enforcing Prohibition regardless if they were actually intoxication inducing or not. This decision upheld federal authority to regulate alcoholic beverages under wartime legislation and set precedent for future cases involving Prohibition enforcement.

The dissenting opinion in the case of United States v. Standard Brewery, Incorporated argued that the Volstead Act's definition of intoxicating liquors as those containing more than 0.5% alcohol was arbitrary and not based on scientific evidence or consensus. The dissenting justices believed this definition to be an overreach by Congress, which they felt had no authority to define what constituted an intoxicating beverage but only to regulate its sale and distribution once defined by science or common understanding. They also disagreed with the majority's interpretation of "intoxicating" within the context of the Eighteenth Amendment, arguing that it should be understood according to its ordinary meaning at the time when Prohibition was ratified rather than being subjectively determined by legislation.