How many calories are in beer, wine and their alcohol-free alternatives?

Maybe you're three weeks into Dry July, or just one of the many Kiwis choosing to quit or cut down on alcohol all year round? Either way, you might like to know just how many calories and how much sugar is in that beer and wine, and how those drinks compare with their low or no-alcohol alternatives on the market. Claire Turnbull does the maths.

There are many reasons why some people are choosing to drink less alcohol and, in some cases, stop completely. From reducing your cancer risk and managing your waistline, to better sleep, improved mood and a clearer head, there are certainly lots of upsides. Not to mention how much more manageable life’s inevitable highs and lows can be without the double-edged sword of alcohol, which so often heightens emotions and complications rather than easing them.

Like many, I drank regularly throughout my university years and most of my twenties. It wasn’t until I was trying for a baby that I really started hunting out alcohol-free options. Back then, 13 years ago, there was pretty much just orange juice, fizzy drinks, or water – with one or two non-alcoholic wines on the market - which at the time tasted terrible, so I gave up after a couple of tries.

In recent years, however, I’ve re-explored the world of low-alcohol and alcohol-free options – first after a brain injury, and now during perimenopause which, if you’re going through it too, you’ll know is a time when alcohol is no longer your friend. The great news is that since my first round of regularly alcohol-free days, things in the drink option department have improved in leaps and bounds.

There is now a huge array of low- and no-alcohol options on the market, from beers and wines to alcohol-free spirits and RTDs.

But how do they shape up nutrition wise? Are some options better than others?

Let’s explore.

When it comes to wine, some can naturally be made with lower alcohol than others, by halting fermentation early. But for alcohol-free ones, it is a different story. While it can be frustrating paying as much for wine without alcohol as the full alcohol version, there is a reason. They still have to make normal wine and then take it through an extra process to take the alcohol out of it.

Calorie-wise, here’s how things change when the alcohol levels lower.

For the higher strength wines which sit around 14% alcohol by volume (ABV), you're looking at around the 600kcals (2480kJ) mark and around 5g sugar in a 750ml bottle. To visualise that – this means calorie-wise, for comparison, 600kcals is equal to around 8.5 slices of bread.

At 11% ABV you are sitting nearer 480kcals (1990kJ) and a possibly couple of grams more sugar depending on the type, something around 7g. Equivalent in calories to 6.9 slices of bread.

At 9% ABV the calories go down again to more like 400kcals (1660kJ) a bottle and the sugar here can start to vary a lot more depending on the variety anywhere from 5 to 30g ish. Equivalent in calories to 5.7 slices of bread.

For the 5-6% ABV wines, the calories can vary from 250-350 kcals (1035-1550kJ) in a bottle, again with varying amounts of sugar. Equivalent in calories to 3.6 to 5 slices of bread.

When it comes to the wine marketed at 0% or as ‘zero’, these will be 0.5% or less ABV and are by far the lowest in calories sitting around 130 to 150kcals (540-620kJ) for a whole bottle. Thats equivalent to 1.9 -2.14 slices of bread.

The sugar does vary. The ones I looked contained between 8 and 23g in a bottle but at the top end it would be a teaspoon of sugar in 150mls which is not that much compared to so many other drink options.

Overall, despite variation in brands, you can see that the trend is that as the alcohol goes down, the calories go down, and while the sugar may go up, it is often not by much.

Overall, if you're interested in keeping calories down, going lower or no-alcohol is definitely a win. That's a plus for your health, before you even factor in that alcohol is dehydrating and has many other adverse health impacts.

One other thing to be mindful of when exploring alcohol-free wines is that close-by and often in the same area of the supermarket are sparkling grape juices which can look almost the same, but are not. These can have up to 110g of sugar in a 750ml bottle, which is more than 26 teaspoons. So, steer clear of those ones as they are similar to drinking a regular soft drink.

Having tried literally every brand of alcohol-free wine over the years, my personal recommendation would be to start with the rose or sparkling rose. I found these to be the most palatable and comparable flavour-wise to the full alcohol version. There are some other good whites, the reds take a bit more getting used to. But it is trial and error, and the taste varies vastly different between brands.

A misconception around beer is that the reason people get a beer belly when they drink beer regularly is because beer is full of carbs and sugar. This isn't the case.

Yes, beer does contain carbs of which some sugar, but this isn’t the main culprit of weight gain associated with drinking. It is the alcohol in the beer that is often the bigger problem.

This is because while carbs provide four calories per gram, alcohol contains seven calories per gram, so reducing the alcohol content of a drink gives a bigger calorie reduction.

In your average 330ml 4% beer, there is likely to be around 8-10g of carbs (as much as 1/2 an apple, so not that much) and 2g or less is likely to be sugar. These beers contain around 110 to 130 calories (455-540kJ) with variation from brand to brand. 1.6 to 1.9g slices of bread calorie equivalent.

A 4% ABV low carb beer is more likely to sit around 2g of carbs or less with very little sugar and have around 80-110kcals (330-455kJ). So yes, there is a difference, although it's not as significant as I feel people are sometimes led to believe. This is around 1.1-1.6 slices of bread.

When you drop down to 0% alcohol beers, you are looking at more like 20-60kcals (82- 250kJ) for 330mls, and there are different amounts of carbs in different brands. This is equivalent to about 1/3 – just shy of 1 slice of bread. Beers that sit more like 2-3% ABV sit somewhere in the middle of the 0% and 4% in terms of the calories, with variation from brand to brand.

Overall, if your waistline is a consideration as a beer drinker, you can see that low or zero alcohol options are the way to go. The alternative of course is just to drink fewer of the standard strength beers.

The good news is that, either way, there are way more options than before and while I'm not a beer drinker myself, my friends and family who know beer well have found low and no alcohol beers that they really like, it is just about trying different brands until you find the ones that taste best to you.

It isn't that easy to access the nutritional information for beers to compare them, but if there are a couple of brands you like and you want to know more, you can find the information on their websites.

There are a variety of zero-alcohol gins and other spirits on the market which vary in how they are made and their sugar content, with some having next to none and others having quite a bit, but they are a good option to explore. The key thing here is to consider what you mix these with to avoid adding a lot of extra sugar. Tonic water for example, although tasting bitter because of the quinine, has much more sugar than people realise as it is similar to other soft drinks like coke and lemonade.

Alcohol-free RTDs have really taken off lately, with new brands and flavours appearing what feels like every week. Having tried pretty much all the brands and flavours on the market, I've found they vary a lot in terms of their taste, so it's something to experiment with – I've landed on a couple of favorites finally but they're different to those of friends of mine, so it comes down to personal preference.

Some of these alcohol-ree RTDs seem to be sparkling water with a splash of light flavour which personally, I don’t feel warrant the price tag they come with, whereas others do actually contain some form of non-alcoholic spirits made through the distillation of botanicals or sprits which have had the alcohol removed.

The main consideration with these RTDs is how they shape up calorie wise and the amount of sugar they contain which really can vary!

At the lowest end, you can get options that are zero calories with next to no sugar and at the top end from my research, 70kcals (290kJ) with 16g of sugar with lots of options in between this.

The nutritional information on these drinks is much easier to access than on beer and wine, so when you are shopping this is something you can compare, but overall, they are lower in calories than RTDs containing alcohol, so they are a good option if you are wanting an alcohol-free option.

Also, from experience, it is harder to drink more than one or two of these drinks, which in itself limits the calories and sugar you get from them, and if you're keen to go for lower sugar options, there are plenty available.

Beyond the drinks specifically marketed as low alcohol and ‘alcohol-free’, there are also endless other options on the market these days including kombuchas and a range of functional drinks. These can be good to include in the mix, just be mindful of their sugar content and caffeine if you're going to be having these in the evening instead of alcohol as they might have an impact on your sleep.

Claire Turnbull is a registered nutritionist with an honours degree in dietetics, a wellbeing educator and author.