Beer is full of empty calories. How else do you explain beer bellies? Imbibing brewskis isn’t the healthiest choice we can make, but calories don’t matter when we’re drinking lagers, pilsners, IPAs, and stouts. We’ll think about our unhealthy lifestyle choices later, like when we’re climbing on the StairMaster at the gym or our doctor tells us we need to lose a little weight. But even when we try to limit our caloric intake while sipping on our favorite brews , sometimes the calories creep up on us. This is especially true when we’re drinking beers that we thought were healthy but aren’t. We rounded up these impostors below. Be fooled no more.
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Least Healthy Beers
Blue Moon Belgian White
On a hot day, it’s hard to find a more refreshing and readily available beer than Blue Moon. When paired with an orange slice, this Belgian-inspired wheat beer is thirst-quenching and delicious. But did you know it’s also 168 calories and 16.3 grams of carbs per bottle?
Photo: Blue Moon
Bud Light Lime-a-Rita
It might seem like this fruit-filled beer would be reasonably healthy since it falls under the Bud Light umbrella of beers. Light means healthy, right? Well, sadly this beer is actually 220 calories and 29 grams of carbs. Ouch. You might as well just drink a real margarita.
Photo: Bud Light
Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA
This one actually shouldn’t come as a surprise as this beer sits at a highly potent 9 percent ABV. But, it still might shock you to learn that one 12-ounce bottle of this award-winning beer sits at a very fattening 294 calories. Yes, you read that right.
Photo: Dogfish Head
Guinness Extra Stout
Guinness loves to refer to its stout as a meal in a glass, but they point out that it’s only 125 calories per 12-ounce bottle. But this isn’t the case for its sister beer as the “extra” in Extra Stout must stand for extra calories since it has 176.
Photo: Guinness
Samuel Adams Boston Lager
Samuel Adams Boston Lager is one of the most well-known, well-respected lagers available in the U.S. It was the first beer Jim Koch ever brewed and led to what we know as the Boston Beer Company today. But, it’s also surprisingly high in calories at 180.
Photo: Boston Beer Company
Sierra Nevada Pale Ale
One of the most popular pale ales ever made, Sierra Nevada is a favorite of bartenders, brewers, and the average drinker. But, it’s also higher in calories than any of us expected. At 175 calories and 14 grams of carbs per bottle, you might not want to spend your whole day chugging these bad boys.
Photo: Sierra Nevada