For the last few years Michelob Ultra has been oddly promoted as some sort of ’sport beer.’ Even though a recent study suggests that beer can rehydrate better than water after exercise I don’t think anyone is ditching their Gatorade for beer when heading to the gym.

Michelob Ultra’s tag line of “Lose the carbs. Not the taste.” just doesn’t make much sense if you think about it. The main ingredient in beer is barley after all, which as a grain is almost entirely carbs. This means Michelob is basically trying to simultaneously increase the flavor while decreasing the ingredients, something that is bound to be met with failure.

Miller has also recently gotten in on this quest to have the lowest calorie beer, with  MGD 64 whose commercials seem to suggest that every other beer is wildly rich in calories.

If you look at the facts however this simply doesn’t add up. MGD 64 only has about two and half calories per ounce less than Michelob Ultra, which means 64 calories of it would only be a sip or two less than MGD 64, not the shot that is portrayed in the commercial. The same thing applies when you compare Michelob Ultra to Guinness, which with its nickname “liquid bread” is frequently considered to be an especially heavy and calorie-rich beer, but it only has about two calories more per ounce than Michelob Ultra, which again is the difference of only a sip or two when having a pint of it.

The point to take from all this is that yes, some beers have less calories than others but not all that much and quibbling over a few ounces here and there isn’t going to make much of a difference and you’ll lose a great deal of flavor in the process. Despite what Michelob would have you believe, beer simply isn’t a sport drink.

Tags: ale, beer, guinness, lager, light beer, mgd 64, michelob ultra

Categories: General