How many calories are in a 16 oz coors light

With more and more light beers becoming available, it is only natural to compare the different options. Though some might want to focus on the taste of the beer, others might find the nutrition facts more important. For those who care about the latter, you’ll find all the information here.

Per 12 fl. oz (355 ml), Coors Light has 102 calories, with 5 grams of carbs. Per 16 fl. oz can (472 ml), there are 136 calories. This is a very similar calorie count to its counterparts, such as Heineken Light, Bud Light, or Miller Lite, but slightly higher in carbs.

However, that isn’t everything you need to know about Coors Light. If you’re curious about the exact nutrition facts, ingredients, and comparison to other light beers – keep reading. This way, you’ll have all the information you need to make the best choice for you.

How Many Calories In Coors Light (4.2% ABV)?

Coors light has 102 calories per 12 fl. oz (355 ml), consisting of 5 grams of carbs, less than 1 gram of protein, and 0 grams of fat. For a 16 fl. oz can (472 ml), or US pint, this is 136 calories, resulting in 6.7 grams of carbs, 1 gram of protein, and 0 grams of fat.

The beer contains water, barley malt, yeast, hops extract, and corn syrup. Coors Light is partnering with farmers to reduce their impact on the environment by reducing the water used to grow their barley by 25%. All barley is also grown in the US, meaning less transport is needed.

If you’re curious about the rest of these ingredients, like what hops extract entails or why Coors Light decided to add corn syrup, continue reading.

How Many Calories In Coors Light Compared To Other Light Beers?

Let’s compare Coors Light to other light lagers.

If we look at its direct competitors, such as Michelob Ultra, Bud Light, Miller Lite, and Heineken Light, we see that this beer is on par with its counterparts. Bud Light has a slightly higher calorie count, with 110 calories, whereas Heineken is marginally lower, with 99 calories. However, Miller Lite and Michelob Ultra each have 100 per 12 fl. oz. With Coors Light having 102 calories per 12 fl. oz, this falls right in the middle of its counterparts.

Interestingly though, while Heineken Light might have the lowest calorie count, it only has an ABV of 3.3%. The other beers all range between 4.2-4.3%.

An exact explanation as to why Heineken chose to lower the ABV of their light beer compared to its competitors isn’t available. However, it could be assumed that Heineken ended up with a slightly higher calorie count due to added glucose and needed to make up for that in some way.  After all, a light beer that is high in calories probably won’t do as well on the market as a low-calorie beer. Still, Coors Light added corn syrup and had a similar ABV and calorie count to its counterparts.

Is Coors Light Low Carb?

The answer to this depends on who you ask. Low carb is generally considered to be below 100-150 grams of carbohydrates per day. With Coors Light having 5 grams per 12 fl. oz, you might be able to get away with drinking a Coors Light while on a low-carb diet.

However, the answer is entirely different if you are eating Keto. Being on a Keto diet generally means going under 50 grams of carbohydrates, some even recommending 20 grams. If your maximum is 20 grams, one 12 fl. oz can of Coors Light is a fourth of your allowed intake.

Overall, beer is not considered low carb. This is because several food groups classified as high carbs, such as grains, fruits, and sugars, are the exact ingredients used to make beer. Still, if you want to drink a beer on a low-carb diet, light beer is your best option. This is because these beers are made to have a more delicate taste by using less barley and hops, which are high carbohydrate ingredients. This leaves you with a lower carb count in the beer.

However, if you are not set on drinking a Coors Light, you might be better off drinking another light beer. Bud Light Next, for example, has 0 grams of carbs with an ABV of 4%,  Miller lite has 3.2 grams of carbs with an ABV of 4.2%, and Busch Light has 3.2 grams with an ABV of 4.1% per 12 fl. oz.

How Much Sugar In Coors Light?

Coors Light has 5 grams of carbs per 12 fl. oz, including 1 gram of sugar. The average for light beer is 5,9 grams of carbohydrates with 0.3 grams of sugar. As a result, Coors Light has a slightly higher sugar count but also a lower carb count.

To compare, both Miller lite and Busch Light have 0 grams of sugar, with a total of 3.2 grams of carbs, and Bud Light has 4.6 grams of carbs, again with no sugar.

This slightly higher sugar count is probably the result of the corn syrup added to help the fermentation process. Most of this sugar is eaten by the yeast and not left in the beer. However, there is, of course, a chance that not everything is fermented. You can read more about this in the rest of this post.

Ingredients In Coors Light

Coors Light has five ingredients: water, barley malt, hop extracts, yeast, and corn syrup. Most of these ingredients you have probably heard of; however, you might be wondering why Coors Light chose to use hop extract over standard hops and why they decided to add corn syrup. Below we’ll explain everything.

Hop extract is just a concentrated form of hops. Making hop extract removes the unnecessary plant parts, leaving you with a sticky resin instead. Important to note is that it is still a pure product; there are no artificial additives in hops extract.

There are several reasons why brewers choose to use hops extract over standard hops. Firstly, it gives the beer a different flavor that is also more consistent, often described as ‘clean bitterness’ by brewers. This flavor cannot be achieved through the use of standard hops.

Apart from the difference in flavor, there is also the benefit of longer shelf life and the fact that the brewer loses less beer in the process. After all, fewer plants mean less beer is absorbed and thrown out.

Lastly, and perhaps most importantly for light beers, there is less plant in the beer, leaving it with a lower calorie and carb count.

Then there is also the ‘issue’ of corn syrup. It is generally believed that light beer without added corn syrup is better and healthier. This isn’t entirely true, however.

Light lagers are lighter because they have fewer hops and barley, which leaves the beer with a more delicate flavor and fewer natural sugars. While the lighter flavor is preferred, the loss of these natural sugars is not, as they are needed in the fermentation process to convert to alcohol. If there is no sugar in the initial product, there isn’t going to be any alcohol in the final product.

This is where some breweries choose to add a form of simple sugar. Coors Light does this by adding corn syrup; Bud Light does this by adding rice, which has the same sugar as corn syrup.

The yeast eats the sugar in the fermentation process, meaning none of it (or a minimal amount) is left in the beer. As a result, adding rice or corn syrup does not make a difference; it just means that the beer ends up alcoholic and has flavor.

How many carbs are in a 16 oz Coors Light beer?

How much alcohol is in a 16 oz Coors Light?

How many calories are in a 16oz beer?

Is Coors Light good for a diet?