The Calorie Conundrum

Light just means less flavor. There is no way to keep that flavor and make it light Naturally. I say Naturally because craft brewers dont put added chemicals in their beers to enhance flavor. Sam Adams put out a light beer and it is lighter than the regular boston lager, but heavier in calories than any other light beer.
Personally, I want to taste what Im drinking. I have 5 beers a week and I want to like what I have. No lights here!
But I get your point.

 

Here you go again. Bashing Sam Adams as non-craft even though they are producing what you have called for in multiple posts. Every one has taste preferences and if you don't like anything SA produces that is fine. But, I think it is inappropriate to say they are non-craft just because they are big. One of the nice things about the SA website is they will give you calorie counts on the beers they make.

I think a better point to make is the correlation between ABV and calorie count. Perhaps the makers of session beers could do a better job of educating the public about the value of lower ABV beers. But then, if you drink four of them you really aren't (or shouldn't) be worried about calories.

 

I thought I saw where Bigfoot has about 330 calories, a small meal for some. I mix in light beers with my normal rotations based on calories, I'm not 22 anymore, and do so out where ABV is in question if your driving. I can't live on Ultra forever, but ice cold it won't kill you. And I can afford to buy beer that's a little more expensive that I happen to like more, price within reason isn't an object.

It would seem that making a low calorie flavorful beer is countered by the fact that you need more malt to give it some backbone. So I'm guessing light offerings are destined to be watery forever, which is where you get 64 calories.

 

I go to primarily two craft beer bars, one has 20 taps give or take the other 30+. I would guess that Bud Light would be the best seller in both with Miller Lite and Ultra a close 2nd an 3d. Add in women and Bud Light/Corona would probably be the best seller. I would guarantee that on a Fri Happy Hour Corona would easily be #1 with the hipsters letting their hair down after a tough week of work. This same place also gets stuff like FBS and Backwood Bastard on tap, so they do put good beer out there.

 

It's about carbs anyway and not so much the calories. A double bacon cheeseburger with no bread is an awesome thing to eat. When I drink with my friends who just buy a case of something from Budweiser I try to get Select. It's like 2 carbs per beer or something.

Carbs are the devil. Not calories. Calories in/Calories out is physics, not biology. I lost 15 lbs in a month sitting on my ass not eating carbs.

 

I've been watching my calories lately, and the answer to this is pretty simple. You don't need a "light" beer. Just drink less beer. I've cut down to one beer a day on the week days, and I'm already starting to see a difference.

 

It's simple:

Eat less, drink less, or exercise more.

 

Not saying it doesn't work in the short term, but those double bacon cheeseburgers will catch up with you soon enough. There's a reason the Atkins diet guy died young; taking something you need out of your diet and replacing with more fat and meat protein is no way to watch your health.

 

There is so much factually wrong here that it would be impossible to correct it all and provide evidence in one post. The only reason i'm replying is so that no reads this and takes it as true as basic nutrition says otherwise. I'd be happy to provide evidence/studies/etc. in a BM.

 

Yeah I think the bottom line with ANY of this stuff is that you need to be mindful of what you put in your body, and how you use it. Eat better, eat less (for most of us), and exercise. You can't be all-around healthy by doing just one component or another, and that goes for nutrition, exercise, sleep, and everything else.

I think the issue is that people don't like hearing that there really isn't a good shortcut anywhere. That's equally applicable when it comes to food (Atkins), exercise, sleep, and to beer. You want to drink something heavier, richer, and stronger? You're just going to have to drink less of it, if you're concerned about calorie and alcohol consumption.

 

Thank you. More people need to understand exactly what you're saying.

 

"Thinking about calories while drinking beer is like thinking about your children while making love."

 

Dr. Atkins fell on an icy sidewalk and hit his head and died from head trauma at the age of 72.

 

Beat me to it. Cracked skull at 72 = dying young from a bad diet, apparently. Learn something new every day.

 

I'm pretty calorie conscious. I'd be a bit less stressed with how many calories I was ingesting if I didn't drink beer. I lost about 20 pounds after high school because I ate less food, and I cut out all drink calories (I.E. Only drank water).

I had Bigfoot the other day and when I saw it was 300 calories I about shit myself. That's a small meal. I'm still maintaining my weight, but it's a bit more difficult now.

I just enjoy beer too much to give it up. I'm also too weight conscious to let myself gain weight again. If I had to, I'd give up beer. But it's the whole "kid in a candy store" thing. I like driving to the store. Getting some beer. Drinking it. Reviewing it. It's a hobby now.

 

I know I might be in the minority but I have ZERO interest in light beer. As a matter of fact I might stop buying from a brewery on principle the day they try to sell me a light imperial stout.

When it's time to watch/ loose weight you need to take some freakin responsibility. Consume fewer calories and/or exercise more. Period. I love big, bold, flavorful imperial beers but I can still control myself when I need to drop a few pounds.

Sorry if I'm not addressing the OP's issue but I just don't see the point in asking the breweries, whose malty goodness we love, to make a less flavorful beer. It's not their job to count our calories.

 

It took me 20 minutes the other day to convince a co-worker that a serving of beer does NOT contain twice the calories of an equal volume of wine. Then he bought a 9.5% baltic porter and a $2 bottle of wine.

 

I get what you're saying.

I too don't understand why more craft breweries don't have at least one year-round light/session beer. I haven't had Founders All Day IPA, but apparently that's a good one.