From the Sunday Telegraph:

Is that a Victoria Bitter in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?

“We found that, compared to those who have never touched alcohol, many people do benefit from some alcohol, including some people who drink outside the guidelines,” Dr Chew said.

Maybe it’s just me, but I think this group needs to chill with a drink or two. While I agree with their premise of nutritional labeling on adult beverages, there still remains a bit of concern that some groups have a different agenda when it comes to booze…neo-prohibitionism.

As I point out in Does My BUTT Look BIG In This BEER?, there is NO fat nor cholesterol in beer and trace amounts of sodium and protein values in your favorite brew. While TTB mandated alcoholic drink labels will almost assuredly display protein levels in grams and sodium levels in milligrams-all part of a labeling consistency for beer, wine, liquor and liqueurs-these numbers in beer are insignificant in my opinion, especially in light of the government recommendation of no more than two 12-ounce servings of beer for men and one 12-ounce serving of suds for women per day.

For instance, the United States Department of Agriculture’s Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for sodium for a 25 old male is 1500 mg. Your average 12-ounce serving of Budweiser contains less than 10 mg of sodium. The average 12-ounce serving of Budweiser also contains 1.3 grams (gm) of protein while the RDA for protein for a male, 25 years and older, is 63 grams. (I used a 25-year old male for obvious reasons; they do enjoy their beers.) You could check out similar parameters for 25-year old women or different ages for men and women and you’d never find any beer, let alone a Budweiser, coming anywhere near RDA levels. You’d have to drink more than 150 bottles of Budweiser to hit the sodium RDA!

Well, once a year, the media drags out the old “Let’s lecture on the best (read: Low-calorie) beers to enjoy while watching the Super Bowl.” I thought I’d do a variance of this and give you a number of different beers, along with their calories, carbs and Weight Watchers POINTS.

The blog Fat Fighter TV has a nice list of light or low-carbohydrate beers, but I thought you might want a bit more info about them and an additional list of full-bodied beers with nutritional info too. 

Just keep this in mind; there are NO BAD BEERS! So here we go.

Best specialty lager-style light beers:

• Michelob Ultra Amber -114 calories – 3.70 carbohydrates – 5% abv – 2 Weight Watchers POINTS 
• Sam Adams Light – 119 calories – 9.70 carbohydrates – 4.05% abv – 2 Weight Watchers POINTS

Best domestic lager-style light beers:

• Michelob Light – 123 calories – 8.80 carbohydrates – 4.30% abv – 2 Weight Watchers POINTS
• Michelob Ultra – 95 calories – 2.60 carbohydrates – 4.20% abv – 2 Weight Watchers POINTS 
• Coors Light – 104 calories – 5.30 carbohydrates – 4.15% abv – 2 Weight Watchers POINTS
• Budweiser Select – 99 calories – 3.10 carbohydrates – 4.30% abv – 2 Weight Watchers POINTS

Best combination of taste and price; all are CR Best Buys:

• Busch Light – 95 calories – 3.20 carbohydrates – 4.10% abv – 2 Weight Watchers POINTS 
• Natural Light – 95 calories – 3.20 carbohydrates – 4.02% abv – 2 Weight Watchers POINTS
• Keystone Light – 123 calories – 5.50 carbohydrates – 4.13% abv – 2 Weight Watchers POINTS

My mini-list of possible lighter-styled Super Bowl Craft Beers

• Sierra Nevade Pale Ale – 175 calories – 14.10 carbohydrates – 5.60% abv – 3 Weight Watchers POINTS
• Schlafly Raspberry Hefe – 125 calories – 12.60 carbohydrates – 3.90% abv – 2 Weight Watchers POINTS
• New Glarus Spotted Cow – 150 calories – 13.56 carbohydrates – 5.10% abv – 3 Weight Watchers POINTS
• New Belgium Fat Tire – 160 calories – 15 carbohydrates – 5.20% abv – 3 Weight Watchers POINTS
• Anchor Steam – 155 calories – 16 carbohydrates – 4.90% abv – 3 Weight Watchers POINTS

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As you can see, when you know the nutritional values of the beers you want to enjoy, a little bit of knowledge goes a long way. Would you rather drink a Keystone Light than a, let’s say an Anchor Steam? Sure, you’d save 32 calories per 12-ounce serving if you hit the Keystone Light…well, the choice is yours There are NO BAD beers!

Find more beer info in “Does My BUTT Look BIG In This BEER? Nutritional Values Of 2,000 Worldwide Beers.”

Buy it today!

Chelada Pops ala Bob

1 12-ounce bottle of Miller Chill
1/4 teaspoon of finely grated lime zest
Juice from one small lime
3 packets of Splenda (or 3 teaspoons of sugar) or more to taste
2-3 drops of green food coloring

Pour Miller Chill into container, add the remaining ingredients and stir. Using frozen treat containers (I found mine at the local Jewel Store in the “Seasonal” section), pour the liquid into the containers. Don’t fill to the top since the liquid will expand as it freezes. Don’t worry if you find the liquid a bit too sweet. It should be. As the Chelada Pop freezes, the sweetness will become muted and will balance out.

Put the Chelada Pops into the freezer overnight and enjoy.

Since I’m cutting back on the carbs and calories, my 4-pack of Chelada Pops comes out to 2.38 carbs, 26.5 calories and 1 Weight Watchers® Points® each. Of course, this depends on the size of the containers you use, but hey…how can you go wrong?