Investment in AB InBev/SABMiller (AB InBev and SABMiller Business Combination) (Details)		3 Months Ended									12 Months Ended
	Oct. 10, 2016 USD ($) shares	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($) shares	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($) shares	Sep. 30, 2016 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2016 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2016 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2015 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2015 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2015 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($) shares	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2014 USD ($)	Oct. 10, 2016 £ / shares shares	Oct. 09, 2016
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Cash component of the partial share alternative											$ 4,773,000,000	$ 0	$ 0
Proceeds from derivative financial instruments	$ 500,000,000										510,000,000	0	0
Total pre-tax cash from AB InBev and derivative financial instruments	5,300,000,000
Purchase of AB InBev ordinary shares											1,578,000,000	0	0
Gain on AB InBev/SABMiller business combination		$ 13,660,000,000		$ 48,000,000	$ 117,000,000	$ 40,000,000	$ 5,000,000	$ 0	$ 0	$ 0	13,865,000,000	5,000,000	0
Earnings from equity investment											795,000,000	757,000,000	1,006,000,000
AB InBev [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Difference between carrying amount and underlying equity		$ 10,700,000,000	$ 10,700,000,000								$ 10,700,000,000
Ordinary shares owned/purchased (in shares) | shares		12,341,937	12,341,937								12,341,937
Equity method investment, ownership percentage (approximately)		10.20%	10.20%								10.20%			9.60%
Cash component of the partial share alternative	$ 4,800,000,000
Purchase of AB InBev ordinary shares			$ 1,600,000,000
Earnings from equity investment											$ 0
SABMiller Plc [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Ordinary shares owned/purchased (in shares) | shares														430,000,000
Equity method investment, ownership percentage (approximately)				27.00%											27.00%
Earnings from equity investment											795,000,000	757,000,000	$ 1,006,000,000
AB InBev [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
British pounds in cash for each SABMiller share, offered by AB InBev (GBP per share) | £ / shares														£ 45
Partial share alternative percentage available for SABMiller shares (approximately)														41.00%
Gain on AB InBev/SABMiller business combination											13,900,000,000
After-tax accounting gain on AB InBev/SABMiller business combination (approximately)											9,000,000,000
Expected gain on AB InBev/SABMiller business combination											$ 445,000,000
Restricted Shares [Member] | AB InBev [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Restricted shares issued to Altria Group, Inc. (in shares) | shares	185,115,417
Restricted Shares [Member] | AB InBev [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Restricted shares, lock-up period											5 years
Estimate of Fair Value Measurement [Member] | AB InBev [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Fair value of investment		$ 20,900,000,000	20,900,000,000								$ 20,900,000,000
Reported Value Measurement [Member] | AB InBev [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Fair value of investment		$ 17,900,000,000	$ 17,900,000,000								$ 17,900,000,000
Reported Value Measurement [Member] | SABMiller Plc [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Fair value of investment							$ 5,500,000,000					$ 5,500,000,000