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Beer: Making Sense of All the Choices

Marketing of beer has changed drastically in the past five years. Let's face it: United States domestic lagers taste pretty similar. Companies have realized this and have moved to advertising based on calories and carbs.

The first point to note is that carbs aren't really all that important. They help determine calories, but taken alone don't tell us anything interesting. What's more important to the drinker who would like to remain fit is how many calories he or she has to take in to get the desired effect of alcohol.

The Efficient Drinker has come up with a metric to determine how "efficient" a beer is. This means minimizing the calories for a given amount of alcohol consumption, or how to get your buzz without gaining tons of fat. Here is the methodology: the efficiency ratio measures the percentage of a beer's calories from alcohol versus other sources. So, the efficiency ratio says nothing about price or taste -- it's simply a measure of which beer to drink if you want to look good.

While the most efficient beers might not be the tastiest, the efficiency ratings are useful for relative comparisons. Which domestic lager is the best? Which microbrew is the best?

The calories and alcohol by volume (ABV) were compiled from various sources, often directly from the brewers. This site will do its best to stay current and maybe one day sponsor an actual study of its own like this one from many years ago. Note that the below figures apply to beer in the United States and may not apply to states with different beer regulations (CO, KS, OK, UT and some counties elsewhere).


50 Select Beer Calories (per 12 oz.), ABV, Efficiency (see Extended for all 265)


Brand Calories ABV Efficiency
Stella Artois 154 5.20% 65.5%
Smithwick's 150 4.50% 58.2%
Sierra Nevada Pale Ale 175 5.60% 62.1%
Sam Adams Summer Ale 160 5.30% 64.3%
Sam Adams Light 119 4.30% 70.1%
Sam Adams Boston Lager 175 5.00% 55.4%
Sam Adams Boston Ale 188 5.40% 55.7%
Rolling Rock Premium Beer 132 4.50% 66.2%
Pabst Blue Ribbon 144 4.74% 63.9%
Newcastle Brown Ale 150 4.70% 60.8%
New Belgium Fat Tire 160 5.20% 63.1%
Natural Light 95 4.20% 85.8%
Natural Ice 130 5.90% 88.1%
Milwaukee's Best Light 96 4.10% 82.9%
Milwaukee's Best (Premium) 142 4.80% 65.6%
Miller Lite 96 4.20% 84.9%
Miller High Life 141 4.60% 63.3%
Miller64 64 2.80% 84.9%
Miller Genuine Draft (MGD) 140 4.60% 63.8%
Michelob Ultra 95 4.20% 85.8%
Michelob Light 123 4.30% 67.8%
Keystone Light 104 4.13% 77.1%
Heineken Light 99 4.20% 82.3%
Heineken 150 5.00% 64.7%
Harp Lager 155 5.20% 65.1%
Guinness Draught 125 4.27% 66.3%
Grolsch Premium Lager 142 5.00% 68.3%
George Killian's Irish Red 168 5.40% 62.4%
Corona Light 99 4.10% 80.4%
Corona Extra 149 4.60% 59.9%
Coors Banquet 147 5.00% 66.0%
Coors Light 102 4.20% 79.9%
Busch Light 95 4.10% 83.7%
Busch 114 4.30% 73.2%
Budweiser Select 55 55 2.40% 84.7%
Budweiser Select 99 4.30% 84.3%
Budweiser 145 5.00% 66.9%
Bud Light Lime 116 4.20% 70.3%
Bud Light 110 4.20% 74.1%
Bud Ice 123 5.50% 86.8%
Boddington's Ale 148 4.70% 61.6%
Blue Moon Belgian White 164 5.36% 63.4%
Anchor Steam 153 4.90% 62.1%
Amstel Light 99 4.10% 80.4%
Yuengling Lager 140 4.50% 62.4%
Red Stripe 153 4.90% 62.1%
Beck's Light 64 2.30% 69.7%
Bass Ale 156 5.00% 62.2%
Lagunitas IPA 194 6.20% 62.0%
Deschutes Mirror Pond Ale 170 5.00% 57.1%

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