CAMRA’s Latest Promotion is Pretty Weak Beer
I got a bit of a laugh out of the latest attempt by the UK’s “Campaign for Real Ale” (CAMRA) to promote beer-drinking. According to the Campaign (which is making headlines here in the US, too), drinking beer will help you lose weight!
LONDON (AFP) – Beer is good for you and can save you from having to go jogging, organisers insisted at the Great British Beer Festival this week.
The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), which is behind the giant annual party, said beer had fewer calories than wine, and switching from the grape to the grain could save as many calories as are burned in a half-hour jog.
And CAMRA hope the notion might help their push to get more women supping Britain’s national drink.
Chief executive Mike Benner said: “It is great news to see the myth of the beer belly finally laid to rest. The main message we are putting forward today is that, as a low-alcohol drink, beer can supplement a healthy lifestyle if consumed in a responsible manner.”
Brewing expert Professor Charlie Bamforth said: “For years beer has been blighted by a reputation for being more fattening than other alcoholic drinks when in reality the exact opposite is true.
“The major source of calories in any alcoholic drink is the alcohol itself, and because beer is the drinks category with the lowest average alcohol content it is also lowest in calories.”
Uh-huh. Of course, it’s not like adding a single, half-hour jog to your weekly schedule will peel off the pounds, but if you don’t think about that one too hard, I guess it sounds impressive.
But should we Americans consider emulating the Brits? Here are the numbers CAMRA released:
| Half pint of 3.8% Bitter (284ml) | Medium sized glass of 12% red wine (175ml) | Medium sized glass of 12% white wine (175ml) | Bottle of 5% ‘alcopop’ (275ml) |
| 85 calories | 119 calories | 131 calories | 179 calories |
| 1.1 ALCOHOLIC UNITS | 2.1 ALCOHOLIC UNITS | 2.1 ALCOHOLIC UNITS | 1.4 ALCOHOLIC UNITS |
Waaaaaait a sec… a half pint of 3.8% bitter???
Ok, a British pint is approx. 20 ounces, so a half = ~10 oz… a little less than the standard, US 12 oz. bottle of beer. So it’s less, but not too far off from, what a US beer drinker might consume. So far so good…
But anybody catch that percentage of alcohol (3.8%)? Let’s take a look at some comparable American brewskis…
Anheuser Busch Natural Light – 4.2 % alcohol
Bud Light – 4.2% alcohol
Busch Light – 4.1% alcohol
Coors Light – 4.15% alcohol
Icehouse Light – 4.13% alcohol
Hamm’s Special Light – 3.9% alcohol
Keystone Light – 4.13% alcohol
Leinenkugel Light – 4.19% alcohol
Michelob Light – 4.3% alcohol
Miller Lite – 4.2% alcohol
Old Milwaukee Light – 3.8% alcohol
Getting the picture? What CAMRA calls “beer” is actually “light beer” here in the US.
Now CAMRA’s not really being deceptive… British beer is apparently pretty wimpy stuff.
However, the shocker is that many British lagers are only 2.6 -3.2 (3.2 – 3.9% by volume), and British bitters, porters, and stouts are generally 2.8 – 3.2 (3.5 – 4% by volume) while British premium lagers and British special bitters are 3.2 – 3.9. No wonder Britain is noted for its phenominal consumption of beer; at that strength one can consume a good many “pints” in a social atmosphere without being totally inebriated.
No harm, no foul for CAMRA – the Campaign’s intended audience is British, after all. But the difference hasn’t come up in the US stories I’ve seen so far. Thus, Americans picking up on the UK story need to be aware that the “beer” on this side of the Atlantic is somewhat stiffer stuff – 4.5% – 5% is more the norm (and certain “ice” brews and malt liquors are higher still). In addition, the carb content of American beer is higher than that of UK brews… overall the cals in your typical 12 oz. beer range from about 130 – 170… not at all less (and rather more) than a standard, 5 oz. serving of vin ordinaire.
As such, you won’t be catching me swapping my Merlot or Cabernet for a brewski anytime soon – let alone a “lite” beer. But it’s not just because of the calories… personally, I agree with the assessment expressed at about 0:58 – 1:11 below:
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_WRFJwGsbY]
In truth, modest alcohol consumption – whether from beer or wine – isn’t likely to impede your weight loss efforts. But even if you’re in the UK, there’s little benefit to swapping.
August 10, 2010
CAMRA’s Latest Promotion is Pretty Weak Beer – http://blog.ultimatefatburner.com/2010/0…
August 11, 2010
I can’t believe all this time I could have just been drinking beer instead of jogging! It sure would have saved my knees.
August 11, 2010
LOL! I”m not such a fan of jogging myself, anymore (my knees are fine… it’s just kinda boring), although “saving” cals isn’t quite in the same league as burning them, from a health/fitness POV… something the CAMRA folks seem to have (conveniently) forgotten.
I got a kick out of their promotional report, too… according to them, beer is a “superdrink.”
August 11, 2010
You have the campaign for real ale but what about gravy? This was on cable sometime ago. Does not really have anything to do with beer but since the topic is sort of about a campaign for something, I am just doing a little drive-by here,
http://www.realgravy.co.uk/
Won’t help you lose weight but a little fun is ok.
Not only do the brits have lite, pansy beer but they take it warm too. Yuck! People should be losing weight for the sheer bad taste.
August 12, 2010
Good Gravy! (sorry, terrible pun!) – what can’t you find a website for these days? I have nada against gravy, but it’s not exactly something I would have imagined would be the subject of a campaign. The beer folks I can understand – they’ve got an industry to promote, and as your “weak, pansy beer” remark implies, they need all the help they can get (esp. when the stuff is drunk warm). But gravy?
August 12, 2010
I have yet to see a website that displays used toothbrushes as art. How ’bout that?
The gravy campaign was for a TV show on BBC america. It was just a way for a restaurant to advertise that they are using real gravy and not the fake stuff. It was a Chef Ramsay show. I assume fake gravy being whatever is in a jar or pkg.
Gravy has its place. Right on the potatoes. But seriously…Nothing nutrionally acceptable about it.
August 12, 2010
Okay, ya got me on the toothbrushes, although apparently used toothbrushes do get displayed as art, occasionally: http://patapscoart.wordpress.com/2008/09/17/donate-your-toothbrush-to-art-and-be-a-part-of-the-american-visionary-art-museums-new-welcome-mat/
Gravy isn’t too common at Chez Lowe – I think the last time I made some, it was for Thanksgiving. But then again, it’s really a sort of expedient used to make plain food more appetizing. If your food isn’t blaaaahhh to begin with, you really don’t need it. 😉
August 13, 2010
“Not only do the brits have lite, pansy beer but they take it warm too.” – This is the statement of a complete tosser!
Firstly what kind of word is ‘lite’?
The word is ‘light’. Real ale in a pub tends to start at around 3.8% ABV and can go up to around 6% ABV. It has several advantages over mass-produced crap in that it’s a natural live product, it has flavour (so you don’t neeed to drink it ice-cold). It’s also a myth that is warm, it isn’t, it is served cellar-cool.
August 15, 2010
“Lite” is the marketing word for crappy light American beers. I am not a fan of lite beers but apparently I have been brainwashed by the media : – ) If you are going to come down on me for using the word lite, then can we please correct some of your “english words” like defence (defense), behaviour (behavior), licence (license), etc., Just give it a consideration. LOL
I would consider “cellar cool” not cold at all. What’s that, maybe 45-50°F or so??? You maybe right in that pub brews have a better taste than mass produced crap. But then again, I have never been in the UK. I have had “english” beers here but that may be like claiming that Taco Bell is really authentic mexican food. There always seems to be something lost in translation. If only the inernet could stream beer…cold beer.