the weird calorie trap of non-alcoholic beer
Non-alcoholic beer feels like it should automatically be the “lighter” choice.
And often, compared with regular beer, it is.
But that doesn’t mean every non-alcoholic beer is low calorie.
A crisp 0.5% lager might be light, dry and relatively low in calories. A hazy alcohol-free IPA might have more body, more sweetness and more calories. A dark stout might be richer again.
That doesn’t make one good and the other bad.
It just means they’re doing different jobs.
The mistake is treating all non-alcoholic beer as one single thing.
It’s a bit like saying “food is low calorie”.
Which food?
A salad? A slice of cake? A massive bowl of pasta?
Same with beer.
Which beer?
The more interesting thing is that alcohol-free beer has grown up enough for this to matter. It’s no longer just about whether it tastes vaguely like beer. It’s about style, sweetness, body, ingredients, calories, occasion and preference.
Sometimes you want the lowest-calorie option.
Sometimes you want the one that feels most like a proper pint.
Sometimes you want something that scratches the Friday-night craft beer itch without the alcohol.
Those are different drinks for different moments.
So the real question isn’t:
“Is non-alcoholic beer low calorie?”
It’s:
“Which one?”