Light beer

Before the development of contemporary light beer, small beer had been brewed for centuries.

The first use of the term in marketing was in 1941 when the Coors Brewing Company sold a low-abv beer called Coors Light for less than a year.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ga4MYyZq-RMC&q=%22%22light+beer+had+its+origins+in+the+1940s%22%22&pg=PA547|page=547 |title=The Oxford Companion to Beer |contribution=Light beer |first=Keith |last=Villa |editor-first=Garrett |editor-last=Oliver |publisher=Oxford University |year=2011|isbn=9780195367133 }}{{cite web |url=https://www.molsoncoorsblog.com/coors-light-1941-roots |title=The little-known story about Coors Light’s 1941 roots |first=Alex |last=Parker |date=August 30, 2023 |access-date=2024-06-01}} In 1967, New York's Rheingold Brewery introduced a 4.2% pale lager, Gablinger's Diet Beer, brewed using a process developed in 1964 by chemist Dr. Hersch Gablinger of Basel, Switzerland.{{Cite web|url=https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/b1/1d/aa/27af4dcab157c0/US3379534.pdf|title=U.S. Patent 3,379,534 issued to Hersch Gablinger April 23, 1968 (patent application filed in U.S. Aug. 17, 1965 and in Switzerland Aug. 28, 1964)|website=patentimages.storage.googleapis.com|language=en-US|access-date=April 12, 2020}}"The First Beer With No Carbohydrates", Hartford Courant, Jan. 5, 1967, p. 44 Using a recipe developed by Rheingold biochemist Joseph Owades, PhD, it was marketed as a beer for people dieting, and was not successful.{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/22/obituaries/22owades.html | work=The New York Times | title=Joseph L. Owades, Developer of Recipe for Light Beer, Is Dead at 86 | first=Wolfgang | last=Saxon | date=December 22, 2005 | access-date=May 12, 2010}} The recipe passed on to Peter Hand Brewing Company of Chicago, who sold it as Meister Brau Lite. Peter Hand later rebranded itself as Meister Brau Brewing (to highlight their flagship product in an attempt to go national), but after encountering financial problems in 1972, they sold the Meister Brau line of beers to Miller Brewing Company. The latter relaunched the beer as Miller Lite.{{cite web|url= https://vinepair.com/articles/miller-invent-miller-lite/ |title=Miller Didn't Invent Light Beer. It Didn't Even Invent Miller Lite. |author=Cat Wolinski |work=vinepair.com}} In 1978 Coors relaunched Coors Light as a 4.2% abv pale lager.

Reducing the caloric content of beer is accomplished primarily by reducing its main contributors, carbohydrates and ethyl alcohol. Unlike reduced-alcohol light beers produced for those restricting their alcohol intake, the alcohol reduction in this type of light beer is not primarily intended to produce a less intoxicating beverage.

This is the primary definition in the United States, where popular light beers include Bud Light, Miller Lite, and Coors Light.

{{main|Low-alcohol beer}}

Low-alcohol light beer is brewed specifically for those seeking to limit their alcohol consumption for medical, social, legal, or other reasons. Its lower proof allows consumers to drink more beers in a shorter period without becoming intoxicated. Low alcohol content can also result in a less expensive beer, especially where excise is determined by alcohol content.{{cite web| url=http://law.ato.gov.au/atolaw/view.htm?docid=PAC/BL030002/1| title=Schedule to the Excise Tariff Act 1921| access-date=2006-12-13| date=August 1, 2006| publisher=Australian Taxation Office| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070204141329/http://law.ato.gov.au/atolaw/view.htm?docid=PAC%2FBL030002%2F1| archive-date=February 4, 2007| url-status=dead}}

This is the primary definition of the term in countries such as Australia, Canada, and Scotland. In Australia, regular beers have approximately 5% alcohol by volume; light beers may have {{nowrap|2.2–3.2%}} alcohol.{{cite web|url=http://www.coopers.com.au/the-brewers-guild/how-to-brew/introduction |title=How to Brew Introduction |access-date=April 4, 2013 |publisher=Coopers Brewery |quote=In other countries, the term "light beer" may refer to beer that is lower in carbohydrates. Light beer in Australia is low in alcohol content but not necessarily low in flavour. Alcohol content of light beer may be 2.2%–3.2% ABV. }}{{dead link|date=May 2017|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} In Scotland, the term derives from shilling categories, where 'light' customarily means a beer with less than 3.5% alcohol by volume.

• Diet drink
• Fat substitute

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{{Beer styles}}

Category:Beer styles