Wellness Weight Loss The 10 Best Low-Carb Beers You Can Actually Drink on the Keto Diet These brews will quench your thirst without blowing your carb budget. By Brierley Horton, MS, RD and Karen Pallarito Karen Pallarito Twitter Karen Pallarito tells stories grounded in science and backed by solid reporting. As Senior Conditions Editor for Health, she covers COVID-19 plus umpteen other health and wellness topics. Her freelance portfolio includes pieces for The Washington Post, U.S. News & World Report, Working Mother, Westchester Magazine, and the news syndicate HealthDay, among others. Karen started her career as a health policy reporter in the nation's capital, where she covered congressional hearings on Medicare and Medicaid. From the late 90s to the early aughts, she reported on health business for Reuters Health and contributed to its medical and consumer health newswires. Prior to that, she was Modern Healthcare's New York Bureau Chief. A fellow of the Association of Health Care Journalists' 2019 class on Comparative Effective Research, Karen is committed to helping people understand the benefits and harms of clinical interventions and exposing racial/ethnic disparities in healthcare. When not on deadline, you might find her whipping up something in the kitchen, working out, bingeing on cable news, or indulging in some form of mind candy (aka reality TV). health's editorial guidelines Updated on August 31, 2020 Share Tweet Pin Email If you're following the keto diet or just eating fewer carbohydrates for health reasons, beer (aka liquid carbs) might be one of the first things you cut from your daily intake. But there are days when you just have to have a cold one, and in those instances, low-carb beer is the way to go. "There are more low-calorie and low-carb beer options on the shelves right now than there has ever been," says Steven Tsaparikos, RDN, a dietitian and certified health coach at Hancock Wellness Center in Greenfield, Indiana. While individual preferences differ, there's a beer to suit nearly everyone's tastes, whether that's a light wheat beer or a more bitter IPA. "Long gone are the days of every low-carb beer being extremely bland," he tells Health. When it comes to low-carb beers, you might want to focus on "light" beers. Their carb counts are always lower and they usually contain less alcohol (as measured by the percent of "alcohol by volume," or ABV) than their regular counterparts. That said, some have more carbs than others. And they vary in calories too. “To be labeled as ‘light,’ the product needs to have one-third fewer calories compared to the full-calorie version,” Taylor C. Wallace, PhD, principal and CEO of the Think Healthy Group and adjunct professor in the Department of Nutrition and Food Studies at George Mason University, tells Health. For clients who enjoy drinking beer, Tsaparikos encourages moderation and making informed choices. Look for nutritional information on packaging or online. Five grams of carbohydrate is a reasonable benchmark for people who watching their carb intake, he says, as long as they're drinking responsibly. We've rounded up 10 low-carb beers that clock in at fewer than 100 calories per 12 ounce bottle or glass, including some fresh new options. Enjoy! Amstel Light drizly.com 95 calories, 5 g carbs, 3.5% ABV At 5 grams carbohydrate per serving, Amstel Light is about middle of the road for this category. It's also light on the palate and quite refreshing. Blue Moon LightSky 95 calories, 3.6 g carbs, 4% ABV Craving a wheat brew? This one's light and refreshing with a solid tangerine undertone, "which will be very familiar to anyone who has had Blue Moon in the past," notes Tsaparikos. Budweiser Select 55 drizly.com 55 calories, 1.9 g carbs, 2.4% ABV With an aroma of toasted malt and subtle hops, this beer is the lowest when it comes to calories and carbs. It's even lighter than Bud Light, which comes in over our 100-calorie cap, and Budweiser Select, Anheuser-Busch's 99-calorie version. Your Ultimate Keto Diet Grocery List Corona Premier drizly.com 90 calories, 2.6 g carbs, 4.0% ABV This 2018 offering from Grupo Modelo in Mexican actually clocks in at fewer calories and carbs than Corona Light (which has 99 calories and has 5 grams of carbohydrates). Devil's Backbone Bright Tangerine Sparkling Ale DRIZLY.COM 85 calories, 2 g carbs, 4% ABV "Sparkling ales, ciders, and seltzers are very popular right now," notes Tsaparikos. Both Devil's Backbone Bright Tangerine Sparkling Ale and the brand's Bright Pineapple Sparking Ale have solid ratings on beer ratings website untappd.com. Dogfish Head Slightly Mighty DRIZLY.COM 95 calories, 3.6 g carbs, 4% ABV This low-cal brew is one that Tsaparikos has enjoyed himself. "This is a great option for the IPA fans out there that are wanting to work towards their goals and still enjoy a nice hoppy bear at the end of a long day," he says. Lagunitas DayTime DRIZLY.COM 98 calories, 3 g carbs, 4% ABV With the re-release of DayTime in 2019, Lagunitas Brewing Company delivered a lighter IPA with lower alcohol content. With this brew, "you still get the characteristics of a traditional IPA but with much lower calories and carb content," says Tsaparikos. The Alcohol You Can Actually Drink on the Keto Diet Michelob Ultra Pure Gold DRIZLY.COM 85 calories, 2.5 g carbs, 3.8% ABV Introduced in 2018, Ultra comes in with a slightly better nutrition profile than traditional Michelob Ultra (95 calories, 2.6 grams of carb, and 4.2% ABV) and what appears to be a similar flavor profile, observes Tsaparikos. If you want to cut back, pick up Michelob Ultra's 7-ounce bottle: It’s 55 calories and 1.5 grams of carbs. Miller Lite drizly.com 96 calories, 3.2 g carbs, 4.2% ABV First brewed in 1975, this pilsner is the “original light beer." Want even fewer calories and carbs? Try Miller64, which has just 64 calories per serving and 2.4 grams of carbs. Yuengling Flight DRIZLY.COM 95 calories, 2.6 g carbs, 4.2% ABV This "next generation" light beer pairs well with salad, seafood, and poultry, according to the Pennsylvania brewery's website. Among light lagers on beer ratings website Beeradvocate, Flight ranks among the best, beating Yuengling's Premium Light Beer. What Is 'Dirty Keto' and Should You Try It? Don't see a low-carb beer you like? Unfortunately, there's no good indicator—such as bitterness from hops—that can help you ID other low-carb beers. “Obviously if the product tastes sweet, it likely has more sugar and carbs," says Wallace. "But in general, quantities can vary between even similar products." But it will get easier soon: “Beer industry leaders Anheuser-Busch, MillerCoors, HeinekenUSA, Constellation Brands Beer Division, North American Breweries and Craft Brew Alliance—which produce more than 81% of the beer sold in the US—have agreed to implement labeling of total calories, carbohydrates, protein, fat, and ABV by the end of 2020 to help consumers choose healthier options,” says Wallace. Cheers to that. 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