Non Alcoholic Vs Alcoholic Beer Brand Calories. Full Comparison

All the big global beer brands have produced a non alcoholic version of their flagship beers. The non alcoholic beer market is undergoing double digit compound growth annually so it is simply a must for the big breweries like AB InBev.

But are these new non alcoholic equivalents of alcoholic beers lower in calories and if so by how much?

For my full overview of use how much lower all non alcoholic beers are compared to alcoholic ones, you can read my full article based on the biggest data set on the internet, here

Are non alcoholic beer versions of alcoholic beers lower in calories?

Yes, non alcoholic beers are lower in calories that their alcoholic equivalents but what are the exact amounts and by how much?

How many calories are in a standard alcoholic beer?

The main source of information in a standard amount of calories in an alcoholic beer comes from the USDA. They state the average alcoholic beer has 43kcal per 100ml and 153kcal per 12fl oz.

This provides a great reference point to see if my data set is accurate and to refer back to.

How many calories are in alcoholic beers with a non alcoholic equivalent?

I have compiled a list of 34 alcoholic beers which have a direct non alcoholic equivalent. They cover lagers, pilsners, ales, IPAs, wheat beer, kolsch, stout and belgian abbey so the range of beers covered is good.

I found that the average calories per 100ml was 43.2kcal and 153.4kcal per 12fl oz. This is very similar to the USDA average beer so i am confident my data set is representative of beers as a whole.

How many calories are in non alcoholic beers with an alcoholic equivalent?

From my data set of 34 beer pairs, the non alcoholic beers average calories per 100ml was 21.7 and 77kcal per 12fl oz.

This number is broadly similar to my overall non alcoholic beer calorie average from well over 100 beers here. In that article i found the overall average was 22.6kcal per 100ml and 80.1kcal per 12fl oz.

This average is likely lower than the overall average because there is only 1 low calorie stout and no fruit beers or sours which have much higher calories and drag the overall average up.

How much less are non alcoholic beers in calories compared to their alcoholic equivalent?

These results show there is an overall average calorie reduction of 49.7% for non alcoholic equivalents of big brand alcoholic beers. That is a huge calorie saving.

That works out at 76.3kcal per can. Another way to look at that is after swapping to non alcoholic big brands as opposed to alcoholic beer, you would weigh 1lb less after drinking 46 beers.

A pound of fat is about 3500kcal so after drinking 46 non alcoholic beers vs alcoholic ones, you would have saved 3500+kcal. You can see how many weeks beers that would be for yourself but it is not to be sniffed at.

Which pair has the highest difference?

The pair with the biggest difference in calories was in the BrewDog Lost lager pair.

Beer	Calories per 100ml	Calories per 12fl oz	Percentage difference
Lost Lager	39	138.45	74%
Lost AF Lager	10	35.5	74%

I actually really liked the BrewDog Lost AF lager and gave it an 8/10, so this is a no brainer swap for large calorie savings.

Which pair has the lowest difference?

The pair with the lowest difference in calories is Krombacher pilsner.

Beer	Calories per 100ml	Calories per 12fl oz	Percentage difference
Krombacher pils	37	131.35	27%
Krombacher pils 0.0	27	95.85	27%

Even though this is the smallest percentage calorie saving it is still significant. 27% less calories is good, as long as you like the beer that is.

Why are they so much lower in calories?

So why are these non alcoholic beers so much lower than their alcoholic equivalent beers, nearly 50% fewer calories in fact?

The answer, not surprisingly is due to alcohol.

Alcohol is very calorie dense. In terms of pure calories per gram it is much higher than either fat or sugar.

Substance	KCal per gram
Fat	7
Alcohol	7
Sugar	4

The outcome of losing basically all the alcohol is a massive calorie saving. Even if the non alcoholic beer then has a bit more carbs or sugar, the overall saving will still be vast.

Full table data of 34 beer pairs

Alcoholic beer	Calories (kcal) per 100ml	Non Alcoholic Beer	Calories (kcal) per 100ml	Calories saved %
Doom Bar	36	Doom Bar 0.0	13	63.9
Guinness	37	Guinness 0.0	16	56.8
Krombacher pils	37	Krombacher 0.0	27	27
Carlsberg	37	Carlsberg 0.0	14	62.2
Bevertown Neck oil	37	Lazer Crush	25	32.4
Becks	38	Becks Blue	14	63.2
Veltins Pils	38	Veltins Pils 0.0	26	31.6
Cobra	38	Cobra 0.0	24	36.8
Budweiser	39	Budweiser Zero	14	64.1
Adnams Ghost Ship	39	Ghost Ship 0.5%	23	41.0
BrewDog Lager	39	Lost AF	10	74.4
Heineken	40	Heineken 0.0	21	47.5
Rothaus Tannenzapfle	40	Rothaus Tannenzapfle 0.4%	18	55
Bavaria	40	Bavaria 0.0	24	40
Zunft Kolsch	40.5	Zunft Kolsch	23	43.2
Fruh Kolsch	40.5	Fruh Kolsch	16	60.5
Schneider Weisse	41	Schneider Weisse Alkoholfrei	23	43.9
Peroni	41.5	Peroni Libera	22	47
Paulaner	42	Paulaner 0.0	24	42.9
Corona	42	Corona Cero	17	59.5
Stella Artois	42	Stella Artois Liberte	18	57.1
Maisel’s weisse	44	Maisel's Weisse alkoholfrei	25	43.2
Erdinger	44	Erdinger alkoholfrei	25	43.2
San Miguel	45	San Miguel 0.0	24	46.7
Super Bock Black	47	Super Bock Preta	26	44.7
St Peters	47	St Peters Without	26	44.7
Brooklyn lager	47	Brooklyn Special Efects	29	38.3
Budweiser Budvar	48	Budvar Nealko	31	35.4
Estrella Damm	50	Damm Free	20	60
Brewdog IPA	52	Punk AF	15	71.2
Old Speckled Hen	52	Old Speckled Hen Low Alcohol	22	57.7
Bitburger	52	Bitburger Drive	22	57.7
Birra Moretti	56	Birra Moretti Zero	20	64.3
Leffe	61	Leffe 0.0	40	34.4
Average	43.2		21.7	49.7