So is there an easy way to calculate carbs?

[I'mRocketMan]

Some friends asked me a couple days ago how many carbs were in my beers! I said I didn't know (and frankly couldn't care!) However, it seems to be an interesting question. Does anyone know how to calculate carbs?

Cheers! Rocket

[danno]

a quick and dirty google brought up this...

http://byo.com/mrwizard/733.html (second half)

and this

http://www.mrgoodbeer.com/carb-cal.shtml

which led to this:

http://hbd.org/ensmingr/

[toneyc]

Dang, Orb, did you get a burr under yer saddle or something?

I'm interested in this subject as well, not for the purpose of "lightening up" my beers, but because I have friends who count carbs and I'd like to be able to tell them when they ask, about how many carbs they're taking in. Besides, low carb beer doesn't have to be light beer, Guinness is relatively low in carbs.

I don't think that the question deserved an explosion of vile rhetoric.

:eek:
Toney.

[MrMethane]

I agree with Toney I have the same curiousity as him. I have a few friends carb counting and it would be nice to inform them of what they are drinking. On top of it, I'm just curious to see how my beer stacks up on the carb chart.

I agree that its a bit annoying seeing all this low-carb shit on restaurant commercials and in every isle of the supermarket. Its a blatant and shameless attempt to cash in on America's fear of being fat. And don't even get me started on Bush, however I think the personal attack on RocketMan was unwarranted. He never mentioned "lightening up" anything, in fact he even said he doesn't care, he just wants to know whats in his beer. As homebrewers we spend a lot of time stressing over what goes in our beer, but not so much time figuring out what comes out of it.

[shifty brewer]

I was actually thinking about brewing a low carb beer for a diabetic friend of mine.

[unkle bik]

It would be interesting to see the caloric content as well.
As homebrewers, we can have control of everything from ingredients, additives,adjuncts, & alcohol content. So why not know all of what goes into a beer & what goes out?

I, too, agree this is a forum about beer, not politics. If you have a thread regarding politix, I suggest visiting a political forum rather than bash a fellow member here with silly venting.

[Caffinehog]

Well, if you know the calories and percent acohol, you can calculate the carbs. Pure alcohol contains about 160 calories per ounce. Carbohydrates are about 4 calories per gram.

grams of carbs = (calories - (%alcohol X ounces of beer X 1.6))/4

Now this assumes no other source of calories. There are protien and some fat calories in beer, so it's not exact. It should be accurate enough for someone on Atkins or with diabetes, though.

[orb]

Plain and simple I apologize to Rocket man...I responded like a jerk-off. I also apologize to all in the forum. This is not my nature. It will not happen again. I have been going thru some un-employment issues the last few months.....I will check myself...Thanx

[I'mRocketMan]

Originally posted by orb
Plain and simple I apologize to Rocket man...I responded like a jerk-off. I also apologize to all in the forum. This is not my nature. It will not happen again. I have been going thru some un-employment issues the last few months.....I will check myself...Thanx

Hey orb, it's OK! I understand those kinds of pressures! Chill and have a homebrew! :)

Cheers! Rocket

[BluesHarp]

Originally posted by Caffinehog
Well, if you know the calories and percent acohol, you can calculate the carbs. Pure alcohol contains about 160 calories per ounce. Carbohydrates are about 4 calories per gram.



Isn't the big thing now "net" carbs? I don't believe alcohol is considered a net carb, is it???

We've debated Atkins here already, so I won't open that box again...but remember one thing - ketosis is a state the body enters when it is sick and begins devouring itself for nutrients.

Be careful. :)

It would be interesting, however, to calculate the amount of calories in your various homebrews...

[Caffinehog]

Originally posted by BluesHarp
Isn't the big thing now "net" carbs? I don't believe alcohol is considered a net carb, is it???

We've debated Atkins here already, so I won't open that box again...but remember one thing - ketosis is a state the body enters when it is sick and begins devouring itself for nutrients.

Be careful. :)

It would be interesting, however, to calculate the amount of calories in your various homebrews...

Alcohol is not a net carb, but it does provide calories. It needs to be in the equation so you can subtract off the calories provided by alcohol. This allows you to find out how many calories from carbs, and therefore, how many carbs.

On an unrelated note, though, higher alcohol beers contain more carbs... Yeast only attenuates a certain percent of the carbs. So more alcohol means that, while the same percent of the carbs are left, a larger amount is left.