There’s nothing quite like a cold beer on a hot summer day. Planning to serve a full-bodied Chardonnay with your Fourth of July barbecue? Of course not! That would be unpatriotic!

Of course, there’s beer, and then there’s beer. (And then there’s a hangover, but that’s another matter.) So when you’re stocking up for your summer imbuement - or even when you’re out on the town - what’s the best brew? And what’s best avoided?

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale seems nice and light (it’s called “pale” isn’t it?) but it actually has more than double the calories in your average light beer. One bottle clocks in at 210 calories. In fact, if you’re watching the calories and lucky enough to be in a bar with microbrews you don’t recognize, pretty much anything called “Stout” or “Pale Ale” or “IPA” or “Fat-Ass Beer” should best be avoided.

The average beer has somewhere in the range of 140 to 170 calories. That’s about as much as a chocolate bar, which is the perfect way to think about it: each bottle you down is another chocolate bar you’re rubbing on your thighs.

As the name would suggest, light beers are always your best bet calorie-wise. (Health-wise, of course, you shouldn’t be drinking beer at all, since all calories in beer are full of sugar and carbs. But we’ll ignore that just now.) They tend to be in the 90 to 110 calorie range. Miller Lite has the fewest of the mainline light beers at 96 calories. (Well, actually Pabst Extra Light Low Alcohol has even fewer at 67 calories - but no one drinks that stuff anyway, so it’s hardly worth mentioning.)

Whatever your beer of choice, you’ll find the lowest prices at BevMo. Not only are the prices low, but you’ll also find an exciting selection of craft microbrews. You can snag even better deals if you become a member.

Of course, if you’re considering a membership anywhere, your best bet would be Costco. The only catch is, of course, you’ll have to buy in bulk. But, hey, it looks like it’ll be a long, hot summer.

***Picture Thanks to Plan 59***

This entry was posted on Monday, June 16th, 2008 at 5:54 pm and is filed under Chocolate Doesn't Make You Lose Weight?. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.