Beer Calorie Calculator: Calories, Alcohol and Standard Drinks

How it works

Choose a serving, how many, the alcohol by volume (ABV) from the can or the tap list, and the beer's body. The board returns the calories, the grams of pure alcohol and the number of US and Canadian standard drinks. Beer calories come from two places, alcohol and carbohydrate, and the calculator handles them differently.

The alcohol part is exact chemistry. Ethanol weighs 0.789 g per ml and supplies 7 kcal per gram:

alcohol (g)        = ml × ABV × 0.789
alcohol calories   = alcohol (g) × 7

For a 12 oz (355 ml) beer at 5%, that is 355 × 0.05 × 0.789 = 14.0 g of alcohol, or 98 kcal.

The carbohydrate part is an estimate. The body setting assumes a typical amount per 12 oz: 5 g for a light beer, 13 g for a regular lager or pale ale, 20 g for a rich stout, double IPA or barleywine. At 4 kcal per gram that adds 20, 52 or 80 kcal per 12 oz, scaled to your serving. So a regular 5% beer in a 12 oz can comes to 98 + 52 = 150 kcal.

Beer calories by serving and style

The calories in a pint of beer depend on which pint. The imperial pint (568 ml) is about a fifth bigger than the US pint (473 ml). In Canada a pint means the imperial measure, but plenty of bars pour smaller glasses, so if the menu says "glass" or "sleeve", ask the size.

Light vs regular vs stout

Most of a beer's calories come from alcohol, so strength matters more than colour. A light beer saves on both sides, being a little weaker and much drier: 102 kcal per 12 oz at 4.2% on the light setting, against 150 for a regular 5% lager.

Stout is where people guess wrong. The dark colour comes from roasted grain and says almost nothing about calories. A dry stout around 4 to 4.5% sits closer to a regular lager than to a barleywine, so set it to regular. Save rich for beers that taste sweet and strong, like imperial stouts, double IPAs and barleywines; on that setting an 8% beer is 237 kcal in a 12 oz pour and 316 in a 16 oz can. For how those styles actually taste, see beer styles for game day.

Alcohol-free beers at 0.5% are nearly all carbohydrate: 62 kcal per 12 oz on the regular setting, 30 on light. Some are brewed thin and some full-bodied, so the label is the better guide. Alcohol-free beer has gotten good covers what is worth pouring.

Standard drinks in the US and Canada

A US standard drink is 14 g of pure alcohol, the NIAAA definition, roughly what a 12 oz beer at 5% holds. A Canadian standard drink is 13.45 g under Canada's Guidance on Alcohol and Health: the alcohol in a 341 ml bottle of 5% beer (341 × 0.05 × 0.789 = 13.45 g, hence the odd number).

So a 12 oz beer at 5% counts as 1.0 US standard drink and 1.04 Canadian ones, which the board rounds to 1.0 as well. A US pint at 5% is 1.3 US and 1.4 Canadian; an imperial pint is 1.6 and 1.7. Standard drinks are the unit health guidance in both countries uses to count alcohol, which is why the board shows them next to the calories.

From gravity: the homebrewer's version

With an original gravity (OG) and a final gravity (FG), gravity mode skips the body estimate. ABV comes from the usual shortcut, and calories from a widely used homebrewing formula that converts gravity to degrees Plato and works out the real extract left in the beer:

ABV                = (OG - FG) × 131.25
real extract (RE)  = 0.1808 × OG°P + 0.8192 × FG°P
alcohol by weight  = (OG°P - RE) / (2.0665 - 0.010665 × OG°P)
kcal per 12 oz     = (6.9 × ABW + 4.0 × (RE - 0.1)) × FG × 3.55

The board then scales that to your serving.

Worked example: OG 1.050, FG 1.010

A typical pale ale. Switch to gravity mode, enter 1.050 and 1.010, and leave the serving at one 12 oz bottle.

1. ABV: (1.050 - 1.010) × 131.25 = 5.25%, which the board shows as about 5.3%.
2. In Plato, 1.050 is about 12.4°P and 1.010 about 2.6°P, so the real extract is about 4.3°P and alcohol by weight about 4.2%.
3. Calories: (6.9 × 4.16 + 4.0 × 4.23) × 1.010 × 3.55 comes to about 164 kcal. Call it 165.
4. Alcohol: 355 × 0.0525 × 0.789 = 14.7 g, so about 103 kcal from alcohol and 61 kcal from carbohydrate.
5. Standard drinks: 1.1 US and 1.1 Canadian.

Enter 5.25% in ABV mode on the regular setting and you get 155 kcal instead. A beer that finishes at 1.010 keeps a little more body than the regular estimate assumes.

Limits

• The carbohydrate figure is an estimate. Where a nutrition label is printed, it wins.
• The ABV on a label is itself rounded, so the alcohol figure is only as exact as the can.
• Gravity mode needs good readings. Read a hydrometer at its calibration temperature, and correct refractometer readings taken after fermentation for alcohol before entering them.
• This is nutrition and arithmetic, nothing more. For the food side of the night, start with pairing craft beer with bar food.

Sources

• NIAAA, What Is a Standard Drink: the US standard drink of 14 g of pure alcohol.
• Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction, Canada's Guidance on Alcohol and Health: the Canadian standard drink of 13.45 g, a 341 ml bottle of 5% beer.
• Standard constants: ethanol at 0.789 g/ml, 7 kcal per gram of alcohol, 4 kcal per gram of carbohydrate.
• A widely used homebrewing formula for calories from original and final gravity, and the (OG - FG) × 131.25 approximation for ABV.

FAQ

How many calories in a beer?

A regular 12 oz (355 ml) beer at 5% has about 150 kcal: 98 from alcohol and 52 from carbohydrate. A light beer at 4.2% is about 102 kcal, and a strong, rich 8% beer about 237.

How many calories in a pint of beer?

At 5% with regular body, a US pint (16 oz, 473 ml) has about 200 kcal and an imperial pint (20 oz, 568 ml) about 240. A 6.5% IPA in an imperial pint is about 287.

Does light beer have fewer calories because of less alcohol or fewer carbs?

Both. Light beers are usually a little weaker and much lower in carbohydrate, about 5 g per 12 oz against 13 g for a regular lager. Even at the same 5% strength, the light setting comes to 118 kcal against 150.

Is a Canadian standard drink the same as a US one?

Close, but no. The Canadian standard drink is 13.45 g of alcohol and the US one is 14 g, so the same beer counts as slightly more Canadian standard drinks. A 16 oz can at 5% is 1.3 US and 1.4 Canadian.