Non-Alcoholic BeerNutritionCalories in Non Alcoholic Beer

I was a little shocked to see calories in non-alcoholic beer, thankfully for a change, it was a good level of shock – the level is so low and that is good news for everyone!

As a general rule, I found non alcoholic beer has an average of 22.6 calories per 100ml and 1.94 grams of sugar per 100ml. This is up to 80% less calories than a regular soft drink and 83% less calories than traditional craft beer making it a great option for cutting down calories while enjoying a drink.

Calories in non alcoholic beer are significantly lower than in alcoholic beers and in some cases 77% lower. The Big Drop Paradiso has only 16.2 calories per 100ml while, according to the US National Library of Medicine, craft beer has between 47.8 – 98.59 calories per 100ml.

This means that a pint of alcoholic craft beer will contain between 210 – 430 calories while the same amount of the Big Drop Paradiso will contain only 76.6 calories. Pretty amazing right.

When you start to see how alcohol plays into the calories in each glass you can quickly see how the calories from 3 pints at the pub quickly add up.

Whether you are using alcohol free beer to:

• substitute one or two drinks in a session at the pub; or
• replace alcoholic beer one or two nights a week

you can see how quickly reducing just 4 drinks per week will reduce your calories from alcohol by over 1600 calories (if we continue the example from above).

Non Alcoholic beer is totally worth your time as it (compared to alcoholic beer):

• helps you reduce your calorie intake
• helps you get better sleep and recovery; and,
• improves your liver function.

Mary Bernard, who I caught up with on the Podcast, went sober during the pandemic and was able to share a first-hand experience how her swapping across to non alcoholic helped her:

• find more time in her day;
• get up earlier and reclaim mornings;
• find a new love and passion for Yoga.

You can find out more about the benefits of moderating or reducing alcohol intake in the post I wrote here or listen first-hand to the podcast chat I had with Mary Bernard who decided to give up alcohol here.

Now we’ve seen some great non-alcoholic beers as an example, it’s time to compare sugar and calories in non-alcoholic beer to juice and soda.

As you can see there is a clear difference in sugar and calories with non-alcoholic beer having up to 80% less sugar than soft drinks and orange juice.

Looking at Juice and Cola options:

• Orange Juice, according to the USDA Orange Juice contains an average of 4grams of sugar; and 45 calories per 100ml; and
• Coca-Cola®, according to Coca-Cola®, contains an average of 6 grams of sugar and 43 calories per 100ml.

Looking at the numbers, it’s clear that a non-alcoholic beer is lower in sugar, lower in calories and generally a better option if you are conscious of sugar intake and monitoring how many calories you consume every day.

Looking at just a few healthy non-alcoholic beer options here are some of the ones I recommend you start with:

• XPA: Heaps Normal Quiet XPA (1.6 grams of sugar per 100ml & 22 calories per 100ml) – read my review;
• IPA: Big Drop Paradiso IPA (2 grams of sugar per 100ml and 15 calories per 100ml) – read my review;
• Stout: Big Drop Galactic Milk Stout (3.2 grams sugar per 100ml and 32 calories per 100ml) – read my review; and
• IPA: Vandestreek Playground IPA (3.2 grams of sugar per 100ml and 32 calories per 100ml) – read my review.

Trying to decipher and find the most healthy non-alcoholic beer can be frustrating, as there are so many on the market and so many new ones popping up every day!

Like I have referenced throughout this article, in researching it, I reviewed the sugar and calorie content of 39 beers and have set them all out for you below to see exactly where your favourite non-alcoholic beer lands on the spectrum.

As a summary, the table below shows something amazing. On average the 39 different beers that I reviewed had ONLY 1.94 grams of sugar per 100ml. This is a crazy 80% less than the same amount of popular soft drinks and 83% less than alcoholic craft beer.

So look through and get yourself some non-alcoholic goodness, after all, it is hydrating!

If I was to recommend two, I’d suggest going with the Vandestreek Playground IPA and the Big Drop Paradiso IPA.