Is there such a thing as a good, light beer?

I would like to brew something low on the caloric scale that does not taste plain like "Coors Light".

Can this be done?

Has this been done around here?

I hope you're prepared for the onslaught. You know people can be pretty fanatical around here (and that includes light beers)...

Kidding aside, I haven't brewed any "light" beers yet, but I imagine something dark and roasty but dry. Guiness draught = 126 calories/12 oz - Bud Light = 110

I remember a thread about it and Forrest posting a recipe he has for it. I can't for the life of me remember a keyword to give you to search.

I am just seeing what I ideas people can come up with. I already limit myself to 2 or less a day. I always brew big beers with around 300 calories a bottle.

The doc says he would like to see me drop 30 pounds. Easier said then done, after 30 that is.

Maybe if we say Austin Hombrew Supply Austin Homebrew Supply Austin Homebrew Supply three times, Forrest will pop up.

I've never tried to brew a low calorie beer, but my cream ale has 229/pint and my fizzy yellow beer has 237 a pint. That could probably be reduced by using less malt (for a lower OG) and still provide plenty of flavor.

If you make a beer with an OG of 1.040 or so, using 7 pounds of pilsner malt and 1 pound of corn sugar for a 5 gallon batch, the calories would be about 175 per pint.

YooperBrew said:

I've never tried to brew a low calorie beer, but my cream ale has 229/pint and my fizzy yellow beer has 237 a pint. That could probably be reduced by using less malt (for a lower OG) and still provide plenty of flavor.

If you make a beer with an OG of 1.040 or so, using 7 pounds of pilsner malt and 1 pound of corn sugar for a 5 gallon batch, the calories would be about 175 per pint.

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1 lb of corn sugar! Houston we have a problem.

I brew in the mid thirties (1.03ish) to the mid forties (1.04ish) all the time with great results.

You can get plenty of flavor in that gravity, and have a nice refreshing brew.

What is the highest attenuating yeast?

WLP550 has a listed attenuation of 78-85%.

How is a high attenuating yeast going to help? It just converts the carbs into alcohol. I guess you will lose some of the energy to CO2 and heat, but I wouldn't think enough to make a huge difference in a low gravity beer.

Wyeast French saison will dry a beer out while still tasting good. What about a low gravity (1035?) saison?

I also am skeptical on dry meaning less calories though. Is there a doctor in the house?

weirdboy said:

How is a high attenuating yeast going to help? It just converts the carbs into alcohol. I guess you will lose some of the energy to CO2 and heat, but I wouldn't think enough to make a huge difference in a low gravity beer.

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I always thought that it was the residual (unfermentable) sugars that are left behind that are highly caloric (even though ethanol itself has calories...i think). Thats why people add beano, or amyloglucosidase, to make further ferment their beer, making a "light beer."

I found this article helpful:

http://***********/stories/wizard/a...-wizard/181-beano-brau-a-hefewizens-mr-wizard

By the way, a pint of ordinary bitter weighs in at 117 calories. Love that beer.

Fwiw

If I set the fg to the same thing as the og, I only get 7 calories more on the estimate (1024). I know it's stretching the programs limits. Just seemed interesting to try.

I always thought that it was the residual (unfermentable) sugars that are left behind that are highly caloric (even though ethanol itself has calories...i think). Thats why people add beano, or amyloglucosidase, to make further ferment their beer, making a "light beer."

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Did you read the whole article? That article basically just said what I did. It reduces the carbohydrates significantly, but most of the calories are still in there, they are just converted to alcohol instead of carbs. Alcohol is 7 calories per gram on its own, and some physiologists apparently believe that alcohol is actually more damaging in terms of calorie consumption than equivalent carbs, because alcohol has some detrimental effect on your body's ability to process stuff.

An actual "light" beer is lighter both in terms of carbohydrate AND alcohol content. As an example, Miller High Life is 4.7% ABV with 13.1g of carbs, and Miller Light is 4.2% ABV with 3.2g of carbs.


What you are talking about reduces the carbs, but INCREASES the alcohol content.

weirdboy said:

Did you read the whole article? That article basically just said what I did. It reduces the carbohydrates significantly, but most of the calories are still in there, they are just converted to alcohol instead of carbs. Alcohol is 7 calories per gram on its own, and some physiologists apparently believe that alcohol is actually more damaging in terms of calorie consumption than equivalent carbs, because alcohol has some detrimental effect on your body's ability to process stuff.

An actual "light" beer is lighter both in terms of carbohydrate AND alcohol content. As an example, Miller High Life is 4.7% ABV with 13.1g of carbs, and Miller Light is 4.2% ABV with 3.2g of carbs.


What you are talking about reduces the carbs, but INCREASES the alcohol content.

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youre right, it is both low alcohol and low carbs that make a light beer. But your original post did not seem to give credit to a highly attenuative yeast (or, using beano) when making a light beer. Clearly, a high attenuation is key, so the question about yeast was warranted.

the article says exactly that:

"my calculations estimate the control beer at 133 calories per 12 ounce (355 mL) serving and the Beano wheat at 122 calories per 12 ounce (355 mL) serving. That’s a reduction in calories of about 8% and a reduction in carbohydrates of 53%."

to answer the original question, I don't see why you couldnt make a low alcohol beer, using a highly attenuative yeast (or beano), and hop the jesus out of it to make a hoptastic session beer. I actually think I would like something like that....

I would brew a batch for the cause...Nice post!

do you work out at all?

Other diet changes can help a lot as well. My wife is a vegetarian, and so I basically only make vegetarian food. Before everyone goes all "BWAGH I'd rather die", tastes can change. I love meat, I always get it at restaurants, lunch out, etc. I'm not talking about white meat chicken either (I hate white meat), I love fried turkey skin and pork intestine and super rare steak. I just eat a lot less of it on a daily basis. There's plenty of food styles out there that are higher in legumes and vegetables without meat that have a lot of flavor such as Chinese, Indian, Thai, Japanese, Indian and Middle Eastern. You may decide to make it your project to learn an entirely new way of cooking. Don't we all love to learn how to make new stuff here?

There are plenty of Mild recipes that come in around 3%. My Bent Rod Rye is about 4% and very tasty. Also a good way to use up small amounts of leftover hops. The first time I brewed it, I used 7 hops for a total of only 1.75 ounces. Probably around 140 kcal/pint.

Hmm. Maybe this thread should be the unofficial HBT 2010 Resolution thread. Everyone can promise to brew a few lighter batches this year. I'd be up for that! We could even share the recipes, maybe have a recipe database section set up for lower-calorie brews...

Just a thought.

northern brewer's ordinary bitter kit is at 142 calories. 3.5%abv. and good.

impatient said:

1 lb of corn sugar! Houston we have a problem.

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Er, ok, you don't like my recipe. But it I don't get why it'd be a "problem".

Some people are sensitive to corn syrup based products. Corn sugar would be in the same family, I believe. However, most reports show that high-fructose corn syrup is what we need to watch intake of. Something about molecular linking to fat cells, not allowing them to naturally break down in the body.

I'll try your recipe, Yooper! I liked your Cali Common a ton. BTW, do you have calorie numbers on that brew? (the one which you'd suggested using Victory malt in, not the one you won competitions with recently)

torque2k said:

Some people are sensitive to corn syrup based products. Corn sugar would be in the same family, I believe. However, most reports show that high-fructose corn syrup is what we need to watch intake of. Something about molecular linking to fat cells, not allowing them to naturally break down in the body.

I'll try your recipe, Yooper! I liked your Cali Common a ton. BTW, do you have calorie numbers on that brew? (the one which you'd suggested using Victory malt in, not the one you won competitions with recently)

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Nah, don't try it! I just put numbers together, but I wanted to know why the aversion to corn sugar. There a lots of recipes out there for hybid beers that would be a lot more tried and tested. I usually don't use corn sugar in beer, unless I'm going for a thin bodied "lighter" beer or need to boost up the ABV (like in an IIPA).

Anyway, the CC recipe comes in at 251/pint, according to Beersmith.

I have never understood why "Light" beers are so popular. If I want to drink a beer, I want to drink a "beer." If you are thinking that alcohol will cause you to add weight, maybe you should consider drinking root beer... or even a nice cold glass of ice water.
Light Beer? Not me.

I brewed up Orfy's Mild Mannered Ale and mashed at 158°F. It came in at 2.9% ABV and 164 cals/pint. It came out so full bodied and flavorful that you would never guess it was 3-2 beer.

Are you asking "lite" as in "diet" or "light" as in light body and color?

I'd shoot for a low OG, over going for really high attentuation. If you follow the latter path, you are more likely to end up with something more BMC-like, and I'm thinking that is not what you want. I'd probably use a number of specialty grains to boost the flavor. These also however tend to result in a higher FG, which means more calories, which is why you want the OG to be very low, like 1.030. Choice of yeast would be a major factor. You DO NOT want something clean fermenting, again, it would end up BMC-like. I really like White Labs Saison II yeast. It attenuates pretty well, but leaves a very rich/sweet taste, suggestive of a MUCH higher final OG

Maybe something like this:

6 oz wheat - for body and some sweetness
6 oz cararoma - just to make it more interesting
6 oz Crystal 60 - ditto
maybe 1 oz of a roasted malt (debittered?) to give it a darker color, which aids the illusion of a fuller flavored beer.
5.25 lbs of Base malt.

I'd probably want to keep the hops under 30 IBU's.

This should give an OG ~ 1.030, and result in a beer with about 100 cal/12 oz. serving. Only 2.5% ABV

Heck, I may try this.

In playing around with the online recipe calculator I found, by using yeast with different avg. attenuation they only changed the calorie content a tiny bit. A 0.03 change in FG only resulted in a 2 calorie difference in a 16 oz serving.

If you are looking for low calorie only, that is easy, I made a wit that went from 1.042 to 1.008 that tasted fantastic and only has about 137 calories.

The thing is that it has a whole lot more carbs than a light beer made with corn and that has crap added to it to breakdown the leftovers to convert into more alcohol and loose taste.

protein has 4 calories per gram...carbs have 4 calories per gram and fat has 9 calories per gram. Someone posted that alcohol has 7 calories per gram....when you consume alcohol, your body stops working on the proteins fats and carbs until all of the alcohol is gone from your system. It sees the alcohol as a poison and removes it entirely then goes back to normal. That is why almost all diets say NO ALCOHOL......... or VERY moderate consumption.

Also if you haven't seen it already it, check this out.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f62/miller-lite-really-triple-hopped-123937/

youre right, it is both low alcohol and low carbs that make a light beer. But your original post did not seem to give credit to a highly attenuative yeast (or, using beano) when making a light beer. Clearly, a high attenuation is key, so the question about yeast was warranted.

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I don't think high attenuation IS the key. The key is low gravity. Lower gravity means lower calories, period.

I don't see why you couldn't produce either a dark ale or a lager that has a lower OG and still tastes great. Almost all of my beers start of below 1045 and no one has ever complained about the taste. What's the worst thing that can happen? You have to make (and drink) a few batches to perfect the recipe?

Excellent light beers:

English Mild
Ordinary Bitter
Berliner Weisse

Blonde ales are good and light in both calories and body.

classic american pilsner.
c.a.p.
i've brewed it a few times. i forget my exact recipe, but it's really cheap, light, and not bad. has some flaked maize, and two row, and that's all. small american hop additions. low o.g. not too hoppy, a good bmc crowd pleaser, but not too light and lifeless at the same time.

I LOVE big beer!! but sometimes I would like a light easy drinking beer, the problem is that I have gained a few LBS..... Sooo for the New Year the plan is that if I want to keep Brewing and drinking beer, I need to make sure I stay active not just come home and grab a few cold ones.

fatguy-littlecoat said:

do you work out at all?

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Yes. I run 3 miles @ 6 mph 6 days a week and do calistenics 3 days a week.

I am not that bad. 6'2" 235lbs.

mmb said:

I brewed up Orfy's Mild Mannered Ale and mashed at 158°F. It came in at 2.9% ABV and 164 cals/pint. It came out so full bodied and flavorful that you would never guess it was 3-2 beer.

Are you asking "lite" as in "diet" or "light" as in light body and color?

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for a diet