Beer and calories - everything you need to know

So you need to start watching your weight but love beer too much. You have heard about the beer belly and want to stay away from it. Yes, beer does have calories, but even if you want to lose some weight, it does not mean you need to stop drinking beer. You just need to learn all about the calories in beer and drink moderately. 

Even if you are not worried about the calories in beer, you may be looking for a light beer for the summer. Lighter beers are great to bring to a summer barbecue. Beers like stout are not something that will clench your thirst on a hot summer day.

Whatever your goal is, let us find out all about calories in beer!
 

How many calories are there in a beer?

Firstly, there is no fixed number as beers differ from each other by ingredients and alcohol content. Beers with stronger alcohol levels have more calories, and beers with added sugar also have extra calories. Despite that, we can have a general idea of how many calories are in a beer. A classic beer with an average level of alcohol content of around 5% has about 43 kilocalories for 100ml. Note that alcohol itself contains calories, and 1 gram of alcohol has 7 calories. 

Does beer make you fat?

So now that we know the numbers, does beer make you fat? That depends on how much beer you drink. If you have a relatively healthy lifestyle, exercise regularly and eat healthily, a few beers will not do any harm. It is considered that moderate drinking is one beer or less a day for women and two beers or less a day for men. Heavy beer consumption, on the other hand, will definitely contribute to your body weight. 

calori biere

 

Does drinking beer give you a belly?

 

Drinking lots of beer will push your body to gain weight in all parts, including your stomach. People joke around a “beer belly”, but we can’t blame all the belly fat on beer. Any kind of calories contributes to a higher waistline. Still, alcohol consumption is often linked with a bigger belly. That is because the liver burns the alcohol, not fat. Moreover, due to the lighter alcohol content compared to other drinks, it is easy to drink several beers in a row. Another sneaky thing about beer is that it often does not come alone. Beer will also make you want to snack, and you may snack on some unhealthy foods. 

 

Calories in beer compared to other alcoholic drinks.

 

Compared to other alcoholic drinks, beer is one of the drinks with the least calories. Some other alcoholic drinks low in calories are cider, prosecco, wine, champagne, and sangria. Alcoholic beverages with the highest calories are absinthe, sambuca, baileys, pastis, amaretto, and gin. For example, when a regular beer contains 43kcal per 100 ml, the absinth has 348kcal per 100ml. So when you want to continue drinking alcohol but watch your weight, then beer is actually one of the best choices. Yet again, this is only if you drink moderately. If you are going to drink several bottles of beer, then a shot of absinth will end up having fewer calories. 

You can refer to this comparative table of alcoholic drinks and the calories here. 
 

 

Which beers have the most calories?

 

You can look at our list of strongest beers in the world and be sure that those beers with high alcohol levels come with calories. 

 

  1. The strongest beer in the world, Snake Venom, has 2050 calories in its bottle. 
  2. Tokyo by Brewdog brewery has 546 calories in its bottle. 
  3. 120 Minute IPA by Dogfish Head brewery is more like whiskey than beer and has 450 calories.
  4. Sierra Nevada brewery produced Bigfoot, a barley wine beer that has 330 calories.
  5. Samuel Adams, a successful American brewery, brewed the Imperial white that has 328 calories. 

Anyone counting calories needs to stay away from these beers.

 

Which beers are low in calories?

 

Now that we looked at some of the beers with the highest calories, let’s turn to lighter beers. 

If you are looking for beers low in calories, try non-alcoholic beers. The less alcohol, the fewer calories. Even so, this is not a rule. The calories depend on the ingredients. There may be some very sugary non-alcoholic beers that are better to avoid.

If you do want a beer with alcohol, then some of the best low-calorie beers are brewed by brewery 28
 

  1. Bière Brett
  2. Blonde sans gluten
  3. IPA sans gluten
  4. White Oak IPA
  5. Pale Ale

Many of the brewery's 28 beers are also gluten-free, for anyone looking for gluten-free beers. 

 

Conclusion 

 

Beer indeed comes with calories, but the good news is that it does not necessarily make you fat. It is all about how much you consume and which beers exactly. So on your next purchase, think about the alcohol content and if it contains a lot of sugar. In the end, beer also has a lot of good nutrients. 

This calorie chart did not scare us away, and we will continue enjoying our favourite craft beers. What about you?

 

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