Heineken Light

does the "Light" in these various light beers indicate lower calories?

oblivious wrote: »

1% lover in ABV than the regular Hino, so probably

In Ireland, and one other obscure country/region, heineken is 4.3%, elsewhere is 5%. So over here it seems odd to have it reduced by just 0.3%. (of course 5% imported stuff can be got in places, but official distributed heineken is 4.3%)

However heineken is a little higher in sugar than other beers, so could be lower in cals.

loyatemu wrote: »

does the "Light" in these various light beers indicate lower calories?

they are lower due to being lower %, but are also typically lower in calories per unit alcohol. In some of them they add in enzymes to convert some otherwise unfermentable carboydrates into fermentable sugars. I think this can make them taste thin or have some other effect.

coors light is 4.3% - I don't think the "light" is in reference to the ABV. Bulmers Light is the same strength as regular Bulmers and their website states:

Containing fewer calories than Bulmers Original, it is enjoyed by the more calorie conscious drinker while still maintaining the 4.5% alcohol and full taste that you would expect from a Bulmers Cider.

I really don't see the point, if you're counting calories, drink wine, or vodka with a sugar-free mixer, but I guess it's not aimed at me.

loyatemu wrote: »

I really don't see the point, if you're counting calories, drink wine, or vodka with a sugar-free mixer, but I guess it's not aimed at me.

they will be around the same calories as a dry wine per unit alcohol, possibly less. Vodka and diet mixers is a very expensive per unit alcohol to drink in pubs.

And if someone says "its not all about the alcohol" then just drink half pints, if you want to count things as "calories per drink"

JonnyM wrote: »

Any special deals on it or are they same price as regular Heineken?

musgraves have it listed at the same wholesale price as normal

The photo looks like its €10 for 6 longnecks (€2.87 per pint)

Looks like a €7 for 4 cans.

kooga wrote: »

Saw it on draft tonight in cork

Where abouts was that? I wanna try it

I don't see the point of it, your not even knocking 10% off the alcohol content, how any pub could give it a tap is beyond me. Could they not have dropped the alcohol percentage to around 2.5% to have it as an alternative beer if someone wanted to have a pint and drive? Sooner they bring in the 5% stuff the better.

kooga wrote: »

The 5% is in wetherspoons here

Cheers, I must sample it

odyssey06 wrote: »

There was an article in the Business section of today's Sunday Indo that Ireland will be the test \ launch country for Heineken Light.
http://www.independent.ie/business/irish/heineken-light-set-to-make-its-euro-debut-in-ireland-in-coming-weeks-34652241.html

launched here but no word of it being a "test". I am not just nit-picking, when I read it I was surprised if it was going to be used as a test country, seeing as how its only 0.3% less here and so the calorie difference is going to be less. So I expect it might take off better in the rest of the EU where its 5%. Some 5% drinkers might switch just to have a lower % session beer.

As heineken is a little higher in sugar than most mainstream beers I wonder if they are going to use sweeteners, like they did with bulmers light. I can't find any info on the Irish 4% heineken vs Irish 4.3%, sugar levels, ingredients, calories

as far as I can tell "light" beers are not supposed to be low-alcohol; just low calorie and low flavour. The Irish version of Heineken is fairly bland (sorry Ross); can't think how they're making it any lighter , but then Coors Light tastes of virtually nothing.

loyatemu wrote: »

as far as I can tell "light" beers are not supposed to be low-alcohol; just low calorie and low flavour.

It can vary. Bulmer light is trying to retain the same flavour so I expect some beers do too. I remember miller had "miller pilsner" here instead of calling it "miller lite" which would have put off the macho men, just like they came up with pepsi max and 7up zero as names rather than "diet" or similar.

Pretty sure the lower strength guinness tried to retain the regular flavour

wiki's take on it
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light_beer

Light beer is a beer which is reduced in alcohol content or in calories, compared to regular beers. Light beers may be chosen by beer drinkers who wish to manage their alcohol consumption or their calorie intake; however, they are sometimes criticised for being less flavourful than full-strength beers, tasting or actually being watered down

Blut2 wrote: »

Heineken is about 180kcal for a pint, whereas Coors Light is only around 100kcal. Over 10 pints thats 800kcal a night of a difference, or about 3 Mars Bars!

The difference is certainly not that much.

It can be difficult to find figures. Guinness is relatively low calorie and used to have 170kcal per 500ml printed on its cans. Recipes vary around the world so you cannot trust many online figures.

I have seen 5% heineken stated as 3% sugar online before, (coke is 10.6% sugar)

Tesco are good for putting figures on stuff. Their vodka is 207kcal per 100ml at 37.5%. This equates to 4.3% 568ml being 134.8kcal. So there is no way coors light at 4.3% here could be 100kcal per pint.

Confucius say wrote: »

There mustn't be a market for it here, apart from myself

I reckon there is no market since they charge around the same price, this is why I never bought a pint of guinness mid strength. I would sooner just get a regular pint and a pint of water for my next drink, rather than buy 2 pints of low strength guinness. (yes I know its not exactly half strength).

There is a weird macho aversion to buying half pints in this country, while oddly the same worried manly men will buy longnecks instead if they want to "slow down" or "take it handy" -yet they cost around the same as a pint, sometimes more.

BeerNut wrote: »

Heineken went all-malt in the mid-1990s.

I mean the nutritional info would say "carbohydrate (of which sugars) 3.0g per 100ml"

It was not an ingredients list.

I won't get into weight differences due to alcohol!

This would be malt and not "table sugar".