Light beer
Light beer is a term that has been applied to different types of beer. Since the 1970s light beer has primarily described a category of beer with reduced calorie content. In the past, light beer also referred to the color of beer (beer that was not dark or amber) [1] and to beer with no more than 3.2% alcohol by weight. [2]
Reduced calorie light beer began to be mass marketed in the United States in the 1960s, but the first successful brand, Miller Lite, was not marketed nationally in the United States until 1975.
Methods of Making Reduced Calorie Light Beer
[edit]After the normal brewing process, small starch fragments called dextrins remain in the finished beer because they cannot be broken down into fermentable sugar by the enzymes that are naturally present in barley malt. These dextrins are digested as carbohydrates and give beer about one-third of its calories and some body. [3] Brewers make reduced calorie beer by reducing the dextrins (carbohydrates) in light beer and some brewers also reduce the alcohol content. Brewers typically use one of three processes, or combinations of them, to make light beer. [3]
The first process involves adding the enzyme amyloglucosidase prior to fermentation. [3] [4] Amyloglucosidase converts the dextrins into fermentable sugar. This process can reduce the carbohydrates found in 12 ounces of beer from around 14 grams[5] to less than 3 grams[4]. The reduction in carbohydrates also makes the beer less filling. [3] Since this process increases the available fermentable sugar, it initially produces a higher alcohol beer but brewers add carbonated water to bring the alcohol level down to a normal level. [3] Amyloglucosidase is found naturally in the human digestive system, but it is not found in barley malt. [3]
Miller Lite and Coors Light are made using amyloglucosidase. [3]
The second method uses high amylase barley malt and a longer scarification period during the mashing process which converts more starch into fermentable sugar. [4] (Amylase enzymes are found naturally in barley malt). This process is capable of producing beers with carbohydrates reduced to about 6 or 7 grams per 12 ounces. [4]
Anheuser-Busch light beers are made using this process. [3]
The third process reduces the amount of barley malt used and replaces it with high dextrose corn syrup. [4] Since the corn syrup is made using enzymes that convert the corn starches to sugars, the syrup contributes little or no carbohydrates to the finished beer. [4] Carbohydrate levels can be reduced by more than 50% using this method. [4]
Pabst Light has been made using this process. [3]
History
[edit]Before the development of contemporary light beer, small beer had been brewed for centuries.
The first use of the term in marketing was in 1941 when the Coors Brewing Company sold a low-abv beer called Coors Light for less than a year.[6][7] In 1967, New York's Rheingold Brewery introduced a 4.2% pale lager, Gablinger's Diet Beer, brewed using a process developed in 1964 by chemist Dr. Hersch Gablinger of Basel, Switzerland.[8][9] Using a recipe developed by Rheingold biochemist Joseph Owades, PhD, it was marketed as a beer for people dieting, and was not successful.[10] The recipe passed on to Peter Hand Brewing Company of Chicago, who sold it as Meister Brau Lite. Peter Hand later rebranded itself as Meister Brau Brewing (to highlight their flagship product in an attempt to go national), but after encountering financial problems in 1972, they sold the Meister Brau line of beers to Miller Brewing Company. The latter relaunched the beer as Miller Lite.[11] In 1978 Coors relaunched Coors Light as a 4.2% abv pale lager.[12]
Reduced calories
[edit]Reducing the caloric content of beer is accomplished primarily by reducing its main contributors, carbohydrates and ethyl alcohol.[13] Unlike reduced-alcohol light beers produced for those restricting their alcohol intake, the alcohol reduction in this type of light beer is not primarily intended to produce a less intoxicating beverage.
This is the primary definition in the United States, where popular light beers include Bud Light, Miller Lite, and Coors Light.
Reduced alcohol
[edit]Low-alcohol light beer is brewed specifically for those seeking to limit their alcohol consumption for medical, social, legal, or other reasons. Its lower proof allows consumers to drink more beers in a shorter period without becoming intoxicated. Low alcohol content can also result in a less expensive beer, especially where excise is determined by alcohol content.[14]
This is the primary definition of the term in countries such as Australia, Canada, and Scotland. In Australia, regular beers have approximately 5% alcohol by volume; light beers may have 2.2–3.2% alcohol.[15] In Scotland, the term derives from shilling categories, where 'light' customarily means a beer with less than 3.5% alcohol by volume.
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ One of many examples is Piel’s Light Beer. In 1954 advertising Piels said that its light beer was drier because it contained less non-fermented sugar than other beer but that “The amount of non-fermented sugar does not appreciably affect the number of calories it contains: all of today’s leading beers contain about the same number – about 150 per 12-ounce bottle or can. But the amount of non-fermented sugar makes a tremendous difference in flavor.”, New York Daily News, December 23, 1954, p. 21
- ^ St. Joseph Gazette, June 22, 1933, p. 6 (“4% of alcohol by volume has long been the standard for light beer, but this is hard to measure while the equivalent, 3.2% by weight, is easily measured with a hydrometer.”
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Steiman, Harvey, "There's Been a Revolution or Two In Brewing Beer, San Francisco Examiner, Dec. 23, 1981, p. E2
- ^ a b c d e f g Schwarz, Paul and Gordon, Dennis, "Crazy Over Carbs”, “The New Brewer”, vol. 20 (2003), p. 42
- ^ ”Ask the Globe”, Boston Globe, Nov. 29, 1976, p. 22
- ^ Villa, Keith (2011). "Light beer". In Oliver, Garrett (ed.). The Oxford Companion to Beer. Oxford University. p. 547. ISBN 9780195367133.
- ^ Parker, Alex (August 30, 2023). "The little-known story about Coors Light's 1941 roots". Retrieved 2024-06-01.
- ^ "U.S. Patent 3,379,534 issued to Hersch Gablinger April 23, 1968 (patent application filed in U.S. Aug. 17, 1965 and in Switzerland Aug. 28, 1964)" (PDF). patentimages.storage.googleapis.com. Retrieved April 12, 2020.
- ^ "The First Beer With No Carbohydrates", Hartford Courant, Jan. 5, 1967, p. 44
- ^ Saxon, Wolfgang (December 22, 2005). "Joseph L. Owades, Developer of Recipe for Light Beer, Is Dead at 86". The New York Times. Retrieved May 12, 2010.
- ^ Cat Wolinski. "Miller Didn't Invent Light Beer. It Didn't Even Invent Miller Lite". vinepair.com.
- ^ Villa, Keith (2011). "Light beer". In Oliver, Garrett (ed.). The Oxford Companion to Beer. Oxford University. pp. 546–7. ISBN 9780199912100.
- ^ The Alström Bros (October 3, 2001). "Light Beers". BeerAdvocate.com. Archived from the original on June 24, 2006. Retrieved December 13, 2006.
- ^ "Schedule to the Excise Tariff Act 1921". Australian Taxation Office. August 1, 2006. Archived from the original on February 4, 2007. Retrieved 2006-12-13.
- ^ "How to Brew Introduction". Coopers Brewery. Retrieved April 4, 2013.
In other countries, the term "light beer" may refer to beer that is lower in carbohydrates. Light beer in Australia is low in alcohol content but not necessarily low in flavour. Alcohol content of light beer may be 2.2%–3.2% ABV.
[dead link]
