calories in filtered vs unfiltered homebrew

[Voyager]

Does anyone have a source of information about how many calories are removed by filtering homebrew? I know most people don't typically care about this, but I have become pretty curious about it.

Most homebrew calorie calculations involve only the og and fg of the beer, thus taking into account the alcohol content and residual sugars remaining after fermentation. Initially this made sense to me. However, since last august I have been keeping a close (daily logbook) eye on my calories, and have steadily been losing 3 lbs/month. That is until I hit the beginning of February... just when I started drinking mostly homebrew rather than store bought beer. Now, I have been keeping track of what I drink, and estimating the calories in my homebrew using online calculators, but my weight loss has completely stalled.

I'm wondering if the yeast and proteins (or anything else I'm not aware of) that are left in unfiltered beer could be a source of uncounted additional calories, and if so how much.

Thanks in advance.

 

[FletusSanguine]

This might be a silly question, but have you adjusted your caloric intake based upon your new weight? I tend to watch my calories fairly closely as well for lifting, and as you drop weight, your daily caloric needs for weight loss/maintenance/weight gain is going to shift downward accordingly.

It might not be (probably is not) the culprit, but just thought I'd offer it up as a possibility, as it's one that could easily be overlooked.

 

[Voyager]

Yeah, I am aware of that and based on my my data and various calculators I should still be in a moderate deficit of 400 cals per day.

But without turning this into a fitness thing, I'm primarily interested in how much residual yeast and protein and bits of grain are there in homebrew, and how many calories they might contribute. A hydrometer reading can't tell you these things. Thus they aren't included in the calorie calculations.

If those are adding 50-100 cals per 12 oz, that would explain my stalled weight los .

 

[ong]

Heh, that would be some murky beer! Generally mine drop almost as clear as if they were filtered, so I can't imagine there's significant calories beyond those in the sugars and alcohol.

 

[1977Brewer]

If the yeast, protein, and grain matter in a serving of beer combined to account for 100 calories, that beer would be sludge. Absolute mud.

 

[midfielder5]

a few quick things as I doubt any one has the actual number of calories-- 50 to 100 ckal extra seems super outrageously high though.
You are supposed to leave the yeast behind, in the bottle when you pour the beer into a glass. So it shouldn't matter and you are not drinking a full 12 oz (less cal).
Also, not all commercial beers are filtered. The BMC's- Yes. craft beer? not all of em.
So it depends what you've been drinking.
It sounds like the online calculators are off and/or you just need to drink less homebrew to keep losing weight/exercise more (sorry).

 

[kh54s10]

I have nothing to base this on but I would think the calorie difference between filtered and unfiltered beer would be just about nothing.

 

[chickypad]

Yeah, I am aware of that and based on my my data and various calculators I should still be in a moderate deficit of 400 cals per day.

But without turning this into a fitness thing, I'm primarily interested in how much residual yeast and protein and bits of grain are there in homebrew, and how many calories they might contribute. A hydrometer reading can't tell you these things. Thus they aren't included in the calorie calculations.

If those are adding 50-100 cals per 12 oz, that would explain my stalled weight los .

So doing the math there you are drinking 4-8 homebrews a day? How are you managing to figure a total deficit for the day, or is this strictly a barley and hops diet?

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

So doing the math there you are drinking 4-8 homebrews a day? How are you managing to figure a total deficit for the day, or is this strictly a barley and hops diet?

Doing the math, I don't think that post said what you think it said.

 

[Voyager]

Let's just forget about the calorie deficit and numbers of calories I recklessly threw out there.

Does anyone have a source of information on what is being filtered in a beer? Yeast, grain bits, protein etc and how much?

 

[william_shakes_beer]

It's going to depend on the beer and probably only quantifiable with a lab analysis. Each recipie is different.

 

[MattyIce]

How much beer do you drink?

 

[revco]

You expected an HBT to stay precisely on topic? Ha!

From what I know, the caloric contribution is largely from alcohol and carbohydrates derived from the malt input. Absent a full lab analysis, the simple math is this:

Alcohol contribution:
1881.22 * FG * (OG-FG)/(1.775-OG)

Carbohydrate contribution:
3550.0 * FG * ((0.1808 * OG) + (0.8192 * FG) – 1.0004)

Total contribution:
Add the two values together

This is probably assuming a perfect world, no yeast, trub or otherwise contributing to the caloric intake. Although brewing processes can mitigate these in many cases, even if it's present, they probably aren't substantial enough to cause major discrepancies from the above calculations.

Off topic, I think you'd have to go back to drinking filtered brews to prove a difference as there could be other factors involved. The ABV's could be different, your body's metabolism could simply be acting differently or many other things.

 

[TasunkaWitko]

I asked Siri, and she just laughed....

....and then we had another beer.....

Seriously, I think we've got a little OCD going on here.

 

[MarshmallowBlue]

Trub is what, yeast and hop material?

7.2 grams of dry yeast is 27 calories.
the amount of hops floating in your beer should be negligible as plant material typically doesn't have many calories in a full serving.

So dry out the bottle sediment and weigh it to figure out extra calories. I'm sure it will be like .05

 

[SatanPrinceOfDarkness]

I am also a calorie counter, and I wish you luck in this. My inclination is that there's no way the unfiltered particulate matter could contribute 50-100 calories. For a 6% beer, that's an extra 25-50% calories. And that would pretty much need to be particulate matter in your explanation. As someone else said, that is 4-8 beers a day if you are in a 400 cal deficit. Seems unlikely you are drinking that much?

That said, there could be other issues. I'm pretty new at this, so excuse my brainstorming. I assume you're estimating calories based on ABV, which is the strongest correlate to calories. You might have more calories in a beer that had a saccharification rest at a higher temperature. This beer would be sweeter than a similar ABV beer, and would have more 'residual sugars' to bring up the calories.

 

[yeastylad]

We should call time on this one. Any calories which may or may not be attributed to particulates in suspension in finished beer is negligible, if anything. If you're that worried about it, either just drink less or not at all, that will have a much greater impact. Calorific content is almost completely proportional to alcohol/initial sugar content. I'm not saying this is a verified source, but here's some light reading.

http://www.beer100.com/beercaloriesimports.htm

 

[yeastylad]

We should call time on this one. Any calories which may or may not be attributed to particulates in suspension in finished beer is negligible, if anything. If you're that worried about it, either just drink less or not at all, that will have a much greater impact. Calorific content is almost completely proportional to alcohol/initial sugar content. I'm not saying this is a verified source, but here's some light reading.

http://www.beer100.com/beercaloriesimports.htm

I notice many of these are clear or filtered. For reference Widmer Bros Hefe is 4.9% ABV and 156 cals per 12oz, which is slightly higher than other 4.9% beers on that link, but the same as Dos Equis Lager, which is also 4.9%, and is pretty darned clear. So....

 

[Voyager]

Hey everyone. Thanks for the input. I think the answer I'm getting (and im not trolling here) is that no one really knows for sur .

I've looked into this quite a bit. The only beers that have nutritional content on the can are those from macro breweries. Note that this beer is for sure filtered (even ”cold filtered" haha) but they do list grams of protein, fat, etc on the can. The protein is not zer . Small yes, but its ther . There is also protein in homebre . Neglible? I don't kno . That's what I'm trying to figure ou . How much yeast might still be in suspension? Again I don't kno . There's enough to carbonate the beer. Neglible calories? Mayb . But I don't know for sur . I haven't found a good source. Any other stuff floating around in there? Not sur . Could be small enough I don't see it, and a hydrometer won't register i .

Finally, just about evey list of beers and their calories I've found is based solely on ab . That's why the 4.9% beers have the same calories. Its because that's how hey estimated i . Surely a 5% beer that finished at 1.015 has more calories than a 5% beer that finished at 1.005.

I know most people don't care about this but I am a scientist and it interests me. I shouldn't have ever brought up the weight loss part.

 

[Voyager]

We should call time on this one. Any calories which may or may not be attributed to particulates in suspension in finished beer is negligible, if anything. If you're that worried about it, either just drink less or not at all, that will have a much greater impact. Calorific content is almost completely proportional to alcohol/initial sugar content. I'm not saying this is a verified source, but here's some light reading.

http://www.beer100.com/beercaloriesimports.htm

This is a much better list than I've found so at. It at least has carb information as well as ab . A lot I've seen don't have that. Thank .

 

[Yooper]

This is a much better list than I've found so at. It at least has carb information as well as ab . A lot I've seen don't have that. Thank .

The calorie differences would be insignificant in filtered beer vs non-filtered beer, probably less than 1.

The carb difference between commercial beers (especially non "heavy" beers) would be a huge difference though.

 

[MattyIce]

The calorie differences would be insignificant in filtered beer vs non-filtered beer, probably less than 1.

The carb difference between commercial beers (especially non "heavy" beers) would be a huge difference though.

How would that work if there are four calories per gram of carbohydrates?

 

[Yooper]

How would that work if there are four calories per gram of carbohydrates?

Many homebrews are higher in ogliosaccharides, which are more dextrinous and higher in carbohydrates than beers with simple sugars, which are fermented out. That's what I meant by higher in carbs than many commercial beers, particularly 'light' style beers.

If you take a grainbill of 20% rice and 80% malt, and mash it at 149, it will be more completely fermented out than a beer of 100% malt and mash it at 158, that beer will have a much higher FG and have a lot more unfermentable carbs as a result. It will taste 'heavier'. Also, many homebrews are higher in alcohol that many commercial beers.

If the OP is gaining weight, and the only change is homebrew and not the quantity of beer, it's got to be the carb load or the alcohol amount ingested.

I'm a "low carb" person mostly, and drink my carbs (beer).

 

[Dan]

Are you sure beer is the culprit and not your body regulating it's ideal weight? You sound like you are a person who treats their body well. Has there been a calorie burning change in your lifestyle since youve noticed this issue?

 

[fuelish]

Drink less...problem solved

 

[GHBWNY]

If weight loss while enjoying good beer is your goal, there are different programs that accommodate beer consumption without he worry of weight gain. For instance, three years ago, I got serious about losing weight and went on Weight Watchers. Shed 35 lbs initially and got too thin, but have come back up into a still-comfortable range. WW helped me re-train myself on what to eat and now I know what I can or can't in order to maintain a healthy weight/lifestyle. Today the weight remains off and I consume whatever I want within the parameters I set for myself. As for beer, whether light or highly-caloric, I enjoy what I want when I want as long as I make it fit into the program's recommendations for me. It may mean something else going by the wayside, but it's a choice.