Low Calorie Brewing

[bwible]

Great article in this month’s Zymurgy on low calorie brewing. I’m going to be trying some of this.

I just looked at the last 2 beers I brewed. Most recently a Scottish 70. 1.041 og, 1.014 fg. Analysis in BeerTools say 137.77 calories, 17 grams of carbs. 17.07. More than I would have thought for something this light. Well light as compared to other beers we brew.

The one before that was a lager I did with 34/70. 1.051 og, 1.012 fg. 168.64 calories, interestingly the same 17g of carbs. 17.23

I wouldn’t mind trying some lower calorie recipes. A few good ones in the article and some good tips on putting low(er) calorie recipes together.

 

[bierhaus15]

Haven't seen the Zymurgy issue, but the easiest way to make low calorie/carb beer is to use amyloglucosidase enyzme. All the sugars are fermented out, resulting in zero carbs and calories only from alcohol. It is common for lagers to be made this way, but it also works with other styles/yeasts, including Belgian and British strains.

I make a 5% dry rice lager at 118 calories per 12 oz that is one of my go-to summer beers; does really well with higher WP hopping too.

 

[bwible]

Yes thats what much of it was about. I guess I just never looked at the amount of calories and carbs in a typical homebrew. I was quite surprised.

 

[CascadesBrewer]

Great article in this month’s Zymurgy on low calorie brewing.

In my book, it was one of the best Zymurgy issues in a long time. Yeah, I enjoy reading articles about fermenting spit just like everybody else, but it is nice to have an issue focused on brewing beer with several quality articles.

Personally, I would probably avoid using enzymes. OG is the primary driver of calories in a beer. Yeah, I like the idea of driving down the FG to reduce carbs, but the trade off is more alcohol...maybe it would depend on what I was shooting for.

 

[bwible]

I think Zymurgy and BYO do a good job. I’ve renewed both of my subscriptions. They’ve both been around for a long time. And to be fair, there is only so much to write about. How many times can they write articles about New England IPA or Kviek yeast? There will always be some articles that some people are interested in and others are not. It’s the nature of the beast. But I agree - its always great when they have articles that interest me and that I want to read.

 

[bracconiere]

as everyone knows, i brew to an OG of ~1.060, used to get a FG of 1.000, but i've been using this APEX pacific coast ale yeast...and now it goes down to ~0.994.

Dry cider is another 'low calorie' play in my tool kit....

what calc were you using to get the carbs? i'd be curious what it says about 1.060->.994.

oh, and that gets me 9%, and only ~170 calories...(according to my scale, and software)

the beauty of using gluco in beer, instead of drinking whiskey for low cal, you still get all the vitamins!!! same calories though.

 

[bwible]

I use BeerTools for mac. It has an analysis tab where it shows that info.

If I change one of my recipes to 1.060 and .994 it says 6.85% abw, 8.58% abv.
Alc 24.16 g 166.73 calories
Carbs 5.29 g 20.11 calories
Protein 0.37g 1.48 calories
Total 188.32 calories

I imagine this could vary maybe by the recipe and whats in it.

If I change this back to what it was - 1.052 og 1.012 fg then it goes to 4.08% abw, 5.2% abv.
Alc 14.66 g 101.14 calories
Carbs 17.33 g (yikes!) 65.85 calories
Protein 1.21 g 4.85 calories
Total 171.84 calories

Gives you an appreciation for the companies brewing 90 calorie beers with 2 or 3 carbs.

I’m not sure about apple cider being low calorie. I just had some Angry Orchard that said 200 calories.

 

[bracconiere]

I’m not sure about apple cider being low calorie. I just had some Angry Orchard that said 200 calories.

angry orchard is a jolly rancher. i'm talking just straight fermented store bought juice...

(and i do my calories by weight. i pour 12oz glasses, but that's by weight. not sure that explains the difference?)

 

[CascadesBrewer]

what calc were you using to get the carbs? i'd be curious what it says about 1.060->.994.

I use this one: Beer Calories & Beer Carbohydrates