Light beers

Light beers have a normal alcohol content (10 - 11,6 g/250 ml glass), while the sugar content (2 - 3 g/250 ml) has been reduced to one fifth to one quarter of normal lagers (7 - 10 g/250 ml).
As a result light beer only contains 20% to 30% of the calories of a normal lager. Light beer is thus suitable for people with weight problems.

Low-alcohol and alcohol free beers

Various techniques can be used for producing beers with a low alcohol content. The beer can go through the complete production cycle, after which the alcohol is removed or the alcoholic fermentation can be stopped by cooling down the fermentation or by removing the yeast.

A distinction has to be made between low alcohol and alcohol-free beer. Alcohol- free beer contains less than 0.5% alcohol while the alcohol content in low alcohol beer is between 0.5% and 1.2%. The alcohol content in table beers is also low, ie. a maximum of 1.5%. Furthermore a distinction has to be made between beers with a normal sugar content and those with a high sugar content. Beer with a low alcohol content and a normal sugar content in fact have rather more sugars (8.2 to 16 g/250 ml) than ordinary lagers (7 to 10 g/250 ml). However, as a result of their lower alcohol content, they contain up to 50% fewer calories than ordinary lagers. Therefore these beers are recommended for people with weight problems, but should be avoided by people with diabetes.
Beers with a low of alcohol content and high sugar content (27.2 - 31.2 g/250 ml) contain around three times as many sugars as ordinary lagers and thereby contain around as many calories as ordinary lagers, despite their low alcohol content. These low alcohol beers are thus of no help to overweight people. Special beers with a high alcohol content (13 to 20 g/250 ml) often contain more sugars (7.5 - 22.5 g/250 ml) and thus more calories (130 - 200 kcal/250 ml) than ordinary lagers. People with weight problems should therefore consider that heavy beers generally contain more calories than ordinary lager.

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