How Many Calories in Heineken Beers (Original, Silver & Light)

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Many consumers today, including beer drinkers, are conscious of the calories they consume. Beer makers, like Amsterdam, Netherlands based Heineken, have responded by not only listing the calories of their products but striving to balance the demand for beers with low calories and carbs with a flavor profile beer drinkers will recognize and enjoy. 


Heineken beers range from 142 calories, like regular Heineken, to Heineken 0.0 with 69 calories per 12-ounce serving.

Calories in beer primarily come from the alcohol and the residual sugar content from unfermentable barley malts. Because of this, you can expect alcohol free beer brands, like Heineken 0.0, to list fewer calories per serving than other beers with increased alcohol.


Heineken Original (5% ABV) Calorie Count


One of the most recognizable imported beer brands, Heineken Original is a European pale lager with 142 calories, five percent alcohol, and 11 grams of carbohydrates. The beer is made with barley, hop extract, water, and yeast for a full-flavored taste.


How Many Calories Compared To Other Original Beers?


At 142 calories, Heineken is not a low calorie beer. However, its 142 at five percent ABV is less than a typical 4% beer at 150 calories.

You can expect light beer brands to have fewer calories, often below 100, while craft beers brewed to have more alcohol will have more calories, sometimes more than double that of a typical beer. Overall, Heineken is on par with other lagers of its alcohol strength.

How Many Calories Are In A Heineken Original Mini-Keg?

Andy Sparhawk with a Heineken Mini Keg


Heineken lists its calories per serving at 12 ounces. It is simple to understand if you have a bottle of Heineken at a bar, but what if you have a different type of packaging, namely a Heineken Mini Keg? 


A Heineken Mini-Keg allows you the convenience of cold draught Heineken poured into a glass from your home. There are 169 ounces of beer in a Heineken Mini-Keg.

The keg is the equivalent of 14 12-ounce beer bottles or cans. So, if you do the math, a mini keg contains 1,999.83 calories. Now, you won’t drink all that in one sitting, but if you’re counting calories on a diet, be aware of how much you do drink.

Heineken Light (3.3% ABV) Calorie Count


Heineken’s light lager offering, Heineken Light, has 90 calories per 12-oz bottle. The beer is brewed with cascade hops for a subtle bitterness and lists 6 grams of carbohydrates. 

How Many Calories Compared To Other Light Beers?


The recipe leverages a lower amount of alcohol to reduce the calories. Three percent alcohol is relatively common for light beers like Bud Light which clocks in at 4.2% abv. Typical light beers utilize enzymes in the brewing process to reduce the carbohydrates and calories in the final beer. While enzymatic processes also may play a part in the production of this beer, it is interesting to note that some breweries may choose to simply reduce the alcohol in beer to gain a similar product. 

Heineken Zero (Non Alcoholic Beer) Calorie Count

Author Andy with a Heineken Zero


Heineken 0.0 looks to leverage the growing alcohol free trend. This non alcoholic lager has just 69 calories. The new alcohol free beer uses only natural ingredients, resulting in a beer brewed for beer lovers, by beer lovers. 


Willem van Waesberghe, Global Craft and Brew Master at Heineken, said: “Removing alcohol from regular 5% Heineken® would have been easy, but it wouldn’t deliver the best tasting non-alcoholic beer. Heineken® 0.0 is brewed from scratch and has a perfectly balanced taste, refreshing fruity notes, and a soft malty body.”


While alcohol free beers have been around for quite some time, the category is having a moment as the diet trend has grown into a broader health consciousness. Beer companies recognize that many consumers choose to cut out the booze occasionally.

Additionally, non alcoholic beers present an alternative to drinks like soda or orange juice for pregnant women and others who need to abstain during social events. 


How Many Calories Compared To Other Non Alcoholic Beers?


Much of the calories from alcoholic beers come from the alcohol itself. Non alcoholic beers, then, will almost always have fewer calories. Other popular alcohol free beers have caloric counts similar to Heineken Zero’s 69. 


Top Selling Alcohol Free Beer Brands and Calories per 12-ounce Bottle

  • Bitburger Drive | 70
  • Clausthaler Original | 82
  • St. Pauli Girl Non Alcoholic Beer
  • Athletic Brewing Run Wild IPA | 50
  • Guinness Kaliber | 78


Heineken Silver (4% ABV) Calorie Count


Recently, Heineken introduced a new low-calorie lager to the other beers in its portfolio called Silver. Heineken Silver has 95, just five calories more than Heineken Light. The beer describes Silver as a “crisp and refreshing lager beer that delivers on great taste and quality. Brewed at 4.0% ABV, Heineken Silver is the solution for those who love a good quality beer but don’t want to feel too full or weighed down after enjoying a few.”


Sources

https://www.heineken.com/us/en/our-products/heineken-silver

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Andy Sparhawk is an avid beer lover and the former editor-in-chief for CraftBeer.com. Andy is the lead writer for The Beer Babe and lives in Westminster, Colorado, with his family. As beer enthusiast and experienced beer judge, he loves sharing his experiences with The Beer Babe's dedicated audience of beer enthusiasts.