• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

Zero-carb beer

KennyA

Moderator
Staff Member
Moderator
Messages
4,132
Location
Northern Ireland, living in Yorkshire
Type of diabetes
Treatment type
Diet only
I saw this advertised and gave it a try. I have been a bit skeptical about low-carb/zero carb beers in the past, as almost all (Marston's Resolution is the only half decent one) taste so bad that they're not worth it.

However, Salute is an exception. They do two beers, a lager (4.8%) and an IPA (4.6%), brewed in Italy. Both are pretty good, and I think most people wouldn't notice that they are not "normal" beer. They've gone on my treat list.

Downside is that they are both fairly expensive, at about £2 for a small can, and you have to buy a dozen minimum at a time.

Sugar Free Beer Premium Italian Beer, Lager & IPA

Try our Premium Italian Sugar Free Beer we have Lager and IPA, with no loss of flavour or strength it’s Sip Sip Hooray! We took out the carbs, left the hydrate!
www.sugarfreebeer.com
 
Interesting. I've not had a beer for 7 years, since T2 diagnosis.
The Marston's is less than half the price of the Salute and seems good value at £21 for 24 bottles? Good value if it tastes OK of course. About 3g Carbs per bottle, which is good.

How does it compare with the Salute taste wise?
We used to cruise past the Marston's Brewery on our narrowboat!
 
My beer consumption also altered drastically post diagnosis.

For a real price comparison between the Salutes and Resolution you have to factor in the costs of delivery. Marston's will do (I haven't ordered for months so things might have changed) free delivery if you buy in quantity which if I remember correctly means spending about £50 for which you get (I think) 48 bottles. That's pretty much what 24 small cans of Salute cost delivered. Marston's wins here.

My usual take on Resolution is that it is far from the best beer I have ever had, but at ~3g a bottle it was the only game in town. I understand it's been around for years and used to be marketed under the name "Low C", meaning low calorie, and they don't seem to make a big thing of it being low carb.

Before finding Resolution I had tried the Skinny beers and things like Michelob Light. All really dreadful to my taste, and I suspect they got to "low" carb by watering down. Resolution is miles better.

Resolution is a maltier beer, if that's your thing, and has a bit more depth to the flavour. The Salute beers are an OK lager - Moretti style - and a decent IPA, if you like IPAs. Not everyone does. I also had an email in the last couple of days that says they are about to produce a zero carb stout. That would be something to see.

I guess that the extra cost of Salutes means I will still be buying Resolution. But at least now there are at least two decent alternatives, albeit a bit pricier.
 
Has anyone tried low alcohol beer recently?
We have found that they taste far far better than they used to ... they actually have a flavour rather than watered down something.
Then by chance I realised many are low carb which makes them a perfect alternative long drink.
 
zero carb stout?? Guinless then.
 
I had an enforced break from the booze once and drunk Kaliber to feel like I was joining in. Really a rather nasty experience that was!
 
Jo_the_boat said:
I had an enforced break from the booze once and drunk Kaliber to feel like I was joining in. Really a rather nasty experience that was!
Click to expand...
There are much better low alcohol beers around now than Kaliber.
For example, San Miguel do a very nice non alcoholic lager, Erdinger have a pleasant low alcohol weissbier, and Butcombe have a tasty low alcohol IPA.
To be honest, the supermarkets in the UK have shelves of the stuff from different brands.
 
Erdinger low alcohol is excellent for flavour. Didn't know some low-alcohol ones were also low-carb. The ones I've looked at haven't been. Which are low-carb?
 
Jo_the_boat said:
zero carb stout?? Guinless then.
Click to expand...
"Guinless" was one of my favourite ad series, from when Guinness used to have interesting ads. If the Salute stout can get anywhere close to Guinness or Samuel Smith's Russian Imperial or Morton's Red Heart I will be impressed. Not holding my breath though.
 
From memory Coors light is 4g carbs per 500ml can, that's less carbs than a cup of tea.
Guinness is the worst at 18g but worth it in my opinion., my meter lets me away with it.
 
I see Tennants Light is low carb and 3.5% ABV. Have bought a couple of bottles to try
 
Are all low alcohol beers and lagers automatically low carb?
 

I haven’t had a beer in 5 years or so. Used to make my own Thanks for the review. !
 
MrsA2 said:
Are all low alcohol beers and lagers automatically low carb?
Click to expand...
No. As explained above low carb Guinness is not very low carb.
It is a good idea to check the label.
IN my experiencer, it is worth checking and trying.
 
If you want a low alcohol bottled lager try Lidl's Perlenbacher 0.0% or Aldi's Rheinbacher Pilsner 0%, 330ml, 5.2g carbs, 1.8g sugar/100ml each. Not quite low carb but not too bad for the occasional treat, both very nice, akin to a Beck's Blue and quite reasonably priced
 
I remember being on holiday in Jersey 30 years ago with my parents, went into a little Italian restaurant and dad (T2 diet controlled) ask for a bottle of Pils lager the owner was very brusque and told dad “we are restaurant for good foods not a bar for thugs” when dad explained why the lovely little Italian man went to the next door pub and bought 4 bottle of Pils for him on the house. It was funny at the time and probably then Pils was the only lowish carb lager. Dad only allowed himself one as a treat now and then but felt bad and accepted all four of them which the rest of us secretly enjoyed lol
 
Having placed one order with Salute have just been informed that they have introduced subscribing. This involves signing up to make a regular purchase either every two weeks or every month.

Subscribing will net you a discount of 10-15% and get you free delivery. Drops the cost per can (if buying monthly) to about £1.60. Looking a bit better price-wise now.
 
I like a beer - but even with the relatively low carb Holsten, it always pushes my BGs high, unless I have a large bolus.

Having seen this thread I have given the Salute lager a go. It is a revelation! No increase in BG at all and it tastes very good too. As a biochemist I am intrigued how they get the glucose to zero - I shall look into it, but my Libre demonstrates that it causes no spike at all

Thanks Kenny A - this will make a huge difference
 

How do they do it? I tried some today - my first beer for more than 5 years. Great hoppy flavour and no spike!
 
This thread's a year old, but if any one's interested, the Zero Five low alcohol bottled beer available at Booths tastes great IMO, and is only 2.4g carbs per 330ml bottle.

Also, has anyone tried Westbrooks Brewery Laguna Pale Ale - 1g carbs per 440ml can? Keen to try this, but a tad expensive - around £2/can in bulk
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Menu
Log in
Register
Cookies are required to use this site. You must accept them to continue using the site. Learn More.…