I have just seen an article I believe was published in the mail about the sugar content in a pint of beer ,as indicated in my profile I only ever have one pint on any occasion 2 or possibly 3 times maximum a week. Firstly what credence is put on this report as their appears to be many who question its truth, secondly is my consumption really unacceptable , thirdly what alternatives should I be considering as I am not keen on wines and spirits .
9 ? spoons of sugar in a pint of beer
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Joe Sweatthang
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You can disregard anything that the mail publishes. They're all morons at the mail.
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Yorksman
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Some mixing up of information somewhere along the line. To make beer, or any alcohol for that matter, you need carbohydrates which have high sugar contents, typically where 100g of the carb type has 70g of sugar.
The reason why you need a high sugar content to start with is that it is the sugar that gets fermented into alcohol. Alcohol actually kills the yeast that ferments the sugar at something like 6% to 9% alcohol, depending on yeast type. In most beers and wines, all the available sugar is turned into alcohol before all the yeast is killed off by the alcohol. However, in some very sweet mashes, the alcohol kills off all the yeast, fermentation stops and there is some sugar left over. Whilst this is OK in sweet wine wines, generally it is not acceptable in beer and certainly not bitter, so the brewers tend to keep this down. A beer with left over sugar will taste sweet.
Typically a lager type beer like Budweiser or Heineken has about 230 cals per pint and 17g carbs. However, a strong but cheaply produced lager like Carlsbery Special Brew gets its 9% alcohol level by using very sweet mashes and special yeasts. Consequently it is a bit thick and syrupy in my opinion and is about 370 cals and 27 carbs. Although the carbs are not sucrose, even if they were 27 g would only be about 4 teaspoons of sugar. Hard to see where this 9 teaspoons comes from. Maybe at the beginning, in the mash, but the chemical structure has changed from that of carbohydrate to that of alcohol during the fermentation process. Carbohydrates have compounds with 1 carbon atom, 2 hydrogen atoms and 1 oxygen atom and can vary in structure. Alcohols have compounds consisting of 3 hydrogen atoms which doesn't sound much but it makes it a very different product. You can breathe carbon dioxide but best avoid carbon monoxide.
The reason why you need a high sugar content to start with is that it is the sugar that gets fermented into alcohol. Alcohol actually kills the yeast that ferments the sugar at something like 6% to 9% alcohol, depending on yeast type. In most beers and wines, all the available sugar is turned into alcohol before all the yeast is killed off by the alcohol. However, in some very sweet mashes, the alcohol kills off all the yeast, fermentation stops and there is some sugar left over. Whilst this is OK in sweet wine wines, generally it is not acceptable in beer and certainly not bitter, so the brewers tend to keep this down. A beer with left over sugar will taste sweet.
Typically a lager type beer like Budweiser or Heineken has about 230 cals per pint and 17g carbs. However, a strong but cheaply produced lager like Carlsbery Special Brew gets its 9% alcohol level by using very sweet mashes and special yeasts. Consequently it is a bit thick and syrupy in my opinion and is about 370 cals and 27 carbs. Although the carbs are not sucrose, even if they were 27 g would only be about 4 teaspoons of sugar. Hard to see where this 9 teaspoons comes from. Maybe at the beginning, in the mash, but the chemical structure has changed from that of carbohydrate to that of alcohol during the fermentation process. Carbohydrates have compounds with 1 carbon atom, 2 hydrogen atoms and 1 oxygen atom and can vary in structure. Alcohols have compounds consisting of 3 hydrogen atoms which doesn't sound much but it makes it a very different product. You can breathe carbon dioxide but best avoid carbon monoxide.
