🍺Low Calorie Beers that are Actually Good

While the sad truth is that beer just simply isn't health food, it doesn't have to be dessert level calories. At the same time, keeping those frosty carbs down doesn't mean that you have to put flavor out to sea. It is worth mentioning that the key mechanism driving the calories in a beer is alcohol by volume. Each gram of ethanol contains around 7 calories per gram, almost double that of other carbohydrates and protein. Other residual sugars do still contribute to the beer as any sugars not converted to alcohol remain from the original malt bill. Big beautiful beers often have both high ABV and residual sugar levels, but some "smaller" beers still manage to have good flavor. I've pulled together my list of brews that pack decent flavor without blowing up your diet.

Low Calorie Beers with Alcohol

Guinness - Crushing the myth that dark beers are higher in calories, Guinness has an iconic creamy feel due to the nitrogenating widget in each can. With 125 calories per 12oz. serving, it delivers full flavor with less of a blow to your gut than a Bud Light! This is primarily due to the fact that Guinness comes in at a moderate 4.2% ABV, perfect for sandbagging at a work function.
Dogfish Head Slightly Mighty - With only 95 calories, this Light India Pale Ale uses monk fruit sweetening to build the beer's body without adding any calories. It packs 30 IBUs and an ABV of 4.0% with flavors like pineapple, coconut, and mango.
Lagunitas Daytime IPA - A similar session IPA competitor, Daytime has 98 calories also at 4% ABV and 30 IBUs. It tracks closer to a standard IPA flavor profile than the fruity Slightly Mighty.
New Belgium Mural Agua Fresca - Fruit forward with Watermelon, Lime, Hibiscus, and Agave, this Agua Fresca styles beer is a collaboration between New Belgium and Cerveceria Primus in Mexico. It is yum yum delicious with only 110 calories, 11 IBUs, and 4% ABV.
Michelob Ultra Pure Gold - Outstripping it's flagship sibling in our Light Beer Tier List, Ultra Pure Gold is certified organic (rice and barley) and brewed with 100% solar energy (via renewable energy certificates and AB's Solar Farm). It tastes eerily crisp and clean with a slight honey sweetness, managed with only 85 calories at a plucky 3.5% ABV.
Heineken Light - My personal favorite light beer, Heineken Light was released in 2005 with 90 calories and a tiny 3.3% ABV. It manages 12 IBUs of balanced and mild hop flavor. Due to the low alcohol content, they are "poundable", though maybe tone it down from your college days. Heineken often has pretty good rebates too, making it an affordable option.

Dogfish Head Slightly Mighty Six Pack Cans

Low Calorie Non-Alcoholic Beers

Non-Alcoholic beers have long had a reputation of being outright terrible, but in recent years the number of options in the space has exploded as has their popularity. While some alcohol free version of major brands are still quite questionable, there are a number of great, guilt-free, beer flavored options that just don't suck.

Guinness 0 - Potentially the best no-alcohol copy of a flagship beer on the market, Guinness 0 almost exactly replicates the smooth and balanced taste of regular Guinness but with only 60 calories per 12oz. serving. Remarkable. It loses very little in the way of flavor or feel.
Athletic Upside Down Golden Ale - While other may also enjoy their Free Wave Haze or Run Wild IPAs, I think this golden ale is their best recurring edition. The Golden Ale style doesn't loose much for the lack of alcohol mouthfeel and is very clean and refreshing at only 50 calories and 15 IBUs. Holds up well even if not ice cold.
Athletic Free Wave - The agreed-upon standard for Non-Alcoholic IPAs. Many other brewers have put out NA IPAs, but Free Wave still has the most body and closest proximity to a full-alcohol IPA.
Weihenstephaner NA Wheat Beer - Germany has been doing NA beer longer than most and this wheat beer is packed with flavor. They use falling film evaporation to extract the alcohol from an honest-to-god traditional beer. It is sweet with honey, banana, and only 75 calories per .5 liter.
Heineken 0.0 - To my palate, it tastes a good bit different from the regular Heineken but it still retains a lovely beery character at a nice 69 calories. My wife greatly enjoyed these during her pregnancy and we tried a good number of other contenders.

Outro

As evidenced by continued growth in the session and non-alcoholic categories, low calorie beers are continuing to become more prevalent in the market. With this consumer force, we'll continue to see more and better offerings within the category and for that I am very excited. Cheers!

🎮 Call of Duty Warzone - The Drinking Game

Fairly self explanatory per the graphic below. What could be more fun than tossing back a few cold ones with your closest buds while rampaging through one of your favorite video games? Call of Duty Warzone might not have as much nostalgia as it did in the Verdansk days, but it still has some charm. The best part: you'll already be at home when you're done so there's no need to worry about a designated driver! Obligatory plug to know your limits, be legal, and drink responsibly, we don't respawn IRL (yes I know that's a cringe statement - that's the joke). Call of Duty Warzone Drinking Game Prep To play the game, you'll need the following in addition to an internet connection, gaming device, and Call of Duty: A Party Sipper of your Choice - I recommend something relatively low ABV. We balanced the rules for a player of moderate ability and a sipper of 4-8% alcohol. Light beer is my go-to here since it has enough lovely hydrating water to soak up any shots. ...

🍺🍷🥃 Beer, Wine, and Spirits Rebate Website Master List

If there is anything I love more than a good drink, it's saving money buying that good drink! The rules for providing discounts on alcohol differ substantially between states with some allowing outright discounts or coupons and others entirely disallowing any sort of purchase incentive. Thankfully though, in my native Georgia as well as most states, a simple reimbursement approach is permissible. Last Updated & Validated 2/4/2026 . Alcohol Rebate Site Master List The following sites are relatively stable for each manufacturer. New offers usually come out every few months. None of these are affiliate links and I provide no assurance as to the process. I have saved so much money using rebates and hope you have similar success. Best practices and general process advice will be presented at the bottom. New sites will be added as I uncover them. Beer Rebates Boston Beer Company Brands - Angry Orchard, Dogfish head, Hard Mountain Dew, Samuel Adams, Sun Crusher, Truly, and Twis...

🍺 Definitive Light Beer Tier List: Meta-Analysis & Ranking

Trends come and go: Craft Beer, Hard Seltzer, Canned Cocktails, and more. In the world of beverage, the currents are constantly shifting, but one drink has an irrevocable grip on America: Light Beer. Good old beer flavored beer may take a hit from new competition, but brands like Miller Lite and Michelob Ultra constantly sit at the top of sales volume lists, even with the fall of Bud Light and rise of Modelo's Flagship. But which light beer is best? Let's find out. Methodology - Light Beer Ranking Taste preferences vary significantly between consumers, but across a large sample we should be able to get a somewhat representative picture of the populations preferences. For this ranking, we will combine data sourced from multiple beer rating sites with an internal Castle & Cairn house ranking to create an overall beer quality score. The starting population of beer brands will be those that are explicitly branded as "flagship light" or beers with less than 100 calor...

🥃 Review #34: ASW Fiddler Toasted Wheat Cask Strength Bourbon

Founded by University of Georgia graduates Jim Chasteen and Charlie Thompson, American Spirit Whiskey Distillery ("ASW") is a craft producer out of Atlanta, GA with the plant registry DSP-GA-20014. As Southern Pot-Still Pioneers, they are one of the few producers to distill in the ancient Scottish Tradition of small, grain-in batches (where grain solids are left in for the remainder of the distillation process) though they also partner with Midwest Grain Products to source distillate for further aging, finishing and blending before bottling as is the case here. This bottle is from the June 2023 batch which is a blend of two principal spirits. ASW's master distiller, Justin Maglitz, is accomplished old-time string music fiddler and he often experiments with various factors between batches. As such, the "Fiddler" brand name fits perfectly. No two batches are truly the same, but all of the ones I've had so far have been to my liking. This bottle shares the same...

🥃 Review #40: Kirkland Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky (2024)

Like Costco's other Scotches, the Kirkland Signature Islay Single Malt is bottled for Alexander Murray and imported by MISA Imports after being distilled and aged in Scotland (TTB.gov plant registry TX-I-1277). The isle of Islay is one of the southern most islands in Scotland and is one of the five whisky regions ensconced in law. There are only nine active distilleries on the island, and the Islay style is typified by strong peat or smoky flavors. As a single malt, we know that the juice in this bottle comes entirely from one of those nine! All of the distilleries are significantly smaller than Glenlivet and many of the mainland producers. Taste testing has people split between Caol Illa, Bruichladdich (Port Charlotte), and Bunnahabhain as being the source. Caol Illa and Laphroig both have done deals for private brand scotch without rights to name the source distillery, but Laphroig does not match the flavor profile for this bottle. Realistically, Caol Illa is the most likely cand...

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