Riddle me this: Just how light can a light beer get and still remain a beer? I myself am not sure. But the people at Brauerei Beck in Germany are certainly giving that question the old college try with Beck’s Premier Light. Most light beers run in the range of about 100 calories or so a bottle. But Beck’s Premier Light has just 64, and only 3.9 grams of carbs.

Of course, there’s a reason for that. This beer is light in alcohol, too. As one might expect, Beck’s touts the low calories and carbs on the label, but not the low alcohol content. Beck’s Premier Light has an alcohol content about half that of most beers. Which is, of course, not necessarily a bad thing.

But if you like that warm and fuzzy feeling you get from a few brews keep this in mind: you’ll likely have to drink twice as many of these to get it as you would most beers. Out the door go your caloric savings. And to think you could have had a beer that actually tasted good.

Beck’s Premier Light is actually halfway between a light beer and a non-alcoholic beer. For some, that might be good: I imagine it would be difficult to get very drunk on this stuff. Again, for some that could be a good thing.

Beck’s Premier Light pours to a pale golden color with a very light head formation and a faint grassy hop nose. The palate is, as you would expect, very light and watery. Don’t expect this to taste like a glass of Beck’s standard lager. There is a bit of hop flavor, especially in the finish. That makes the beer quenching and very drinkable. They did at least add some hops here to impart flavor.

Would I recommend Beck’s Premier Light? That depends. If you’re just looking for a quenching beer to drink on the beach or with your low-carb meal, this one would be great. It certainly has more flavor than Michelob Ultra , Budweiser Select, or Coors Aspen Edge and has fewer calories. Somebody apparently forgot to tell the big American brewers that hops are calorie-free.

But if you’re looking for a lot of flavor, I suggest you look elsewhere. A good microbrew or two is a much better alternative than two or four of these. And you can even stick with light if you want: Sam Adams Light has a lot of flavor with fewer calories than your average microbrew.

Three stars as these types of beers go. But I really can’t recommend it for most beer drinkers.



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