This script is from the second season of Beer Notes, which you can listen to at beernotes.org.
Bud Light, Coors Light and Miller Lite are three of the four best selling beers in the country on an annual basis. Why, you ask, is Beer Notes, a program dedicated to craft beer, mentioning these statistics?
Because craft brewers are starting to notice that growth requires innovation and brewing outside the box.
A Harris Poll produced in partnership with Nielsen reported that 52% of beer drinkers nationally said that they want to reduce their consumption of alcohol and the number one reason sited was because they were “opting for a healthier lifestyle.”
Several brewers have already targeted these beer drinkers and more will follow. But when craft brewers are involved, light beer of the 80s is not the craft light beer of today.
Dogfish Head, in an effort to create a hoppy, world-class IPA that’s also low in calories, carbs and fat, recently came out with their 95-calorie Slightly Mighty IPA, which has the same amount of calories as a Michelob Ultra.
An article on DraftMag.com thanks John Michael Verive from Beer of Tomorrow for creating a useful chart for calculating calories for craft beers. Basically, you multiply the ABV by 2.5 to get a rough calorie estimate. Clearly, the high alcohol content of early craft beers is being modified for the health conscious drinker.
So, look for lower alcohol, flavorful beers made by our favorite craft brewers that compete with the traditional light beers of previous generations. Who says craft beer has to make you fat?
2 https://draftmag.com/your-fancy-beer-is-more-caloric-than-you-think/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/26/business/craft-beer-low-calories.html?
