Fermentation
Calories in a beer
A beer at 1.050 finished at 1.010 is about 150 kcal per 330 mL bottle. An imperial stout, almost double.
Result
Fill in the values and run the calculation, or try the example.
This is the calculation Krausi uses. Create an account to save it in a recipe or a brew.
Create my accountWhy calculate the calories in your beer?
It is the question you get at every tasting, and homebrewed beers have no nutrition label. The calculation lets you answer it, and label honestly.
The calories in a beer have two sources. Alcohol brings the larger share: 7 kcal per gram. The sugars the yeast did not consume bring the rest: 4 kcal per gram. Hops and water bring none.
So a strong beer is always higher in calories, and a dry beer is a little lower than a full-bodied beer of the same strength.
How are the calories calculated?
The tool converts the gravities to degrees Plato, calculates the real extract, then the alcohol by weight:
alcohol by weight (%) = (original extract − real extract) / (2.0665 − 0.010665 × original extract)
kcal per 100 mL = (6.9 × alcohol by weight + 4 × (real extract − 0.1)) × final gravityThe result is given per 100 mL, and for the volume of your glass or bottle.
Worked example
Values entered
- Original gravity as decimal SG: 1.05
- Final gravity as decimal SG: 1.01
- Glass size in mL: 330
Result from the tool
- kcal per 100 mL
- 46.11 kcal
- kcal per glass
- 152.17 kcal
- Alcohol in % by weight
- 4.16 %
What the tool does not do
- It is an estimate to within ± 10%: only a laboratory analysis gives an exact value.
- Unfermented priming sugar is not counted.
- Late additions (fruit, lactose) are only taken into account if they are in the measured gravities.
Frequently asked questions
Does a light beer have fewer calories?
Yes, because it contains less alcohol. A 4% beer brings about 120 kcal per 330 mL bottle, against 150 for a 5.25% beer.
How many calories in an IPA?
An IPA at 1.065 finished at 1.012 brings about 200 kcal per 330 mL bottle, or 60 kcal per 100 mL.
Do the calories come from the hops?
No. They come from the alcohol and the residual sugars of the malt. Hops bring neither.
And with the assistant?
Krausi knows the gravities of your brews: ask him for the calories in a bottle when it is time to label it.
How many calories in my blonde? OG 1.050 and FG 1.010.
About 152 kcal per 330 mL bottle, or 46 kcal per 100 mL. Most of it comes from the alcohol.