Alcohol

I posted this for another thread. I actually ride the head of the tiger. I shoot for quality of brew and high alcohol in lieu of low calories. More drunk on less drink usually means more drunk on less calories and also more drunk on less filling...

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Unlike food, I'd say front load your drinking, get drunk quicker if that's your goal and spare yourself the hours of session style drinking. I personally prefer higher ABV (Alcohol by volume) beers, they tend to fall into the craft brew category. They tend to be higher in calories, but they balance it out by being higher in alcohol, they also tend to be more sip-able and therefore less chug-able. So those give you a few options, drink quickly and get drunk quickly without filling yourself up, or sip slowly and get the same effect from potentially fewer calories.

A few head to head comparisons courtesy of MFP and BeerAdvocate.

Bud Light
http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/29/1320/

Style: Adjunct Lager
Rating: D-
Serving Size: 12 Oz
Calories 110
ABV: 4.2%


Pabst Blue Ribbon
http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/447/1331

Style: Adjunct Lager
Rating: C
Serving Size: 12 Oz
Calories 153
ABV: 4.74%


And because you're Australian...

Foster's

Style: Adjunct Lager
Rating: C-
Serving Size: 12 Oz
Calories: 193
ABV: 5%


Now let's make a mixed drink to compare...

Webtender.com provides these mixes...

Rum and Coke (4 Oz and 8 Oz) ((Optimistic pour at a bar, but you get the idea))
We're using Captain Morgan (30% ABV), because he was practically begging...

So 4 Oz of Captain is 240 Calories, diluted with 8 Oz of Coke at 105 Calories, or Diet which adds 0 Calories but probably contains some sort of astringent, leaving you with a 12 Oz serving diluted to 10% ABV at 240-345 Calories. That's assuming you get a full 4 ounces of booze and 8 ounces of Coke in your glass. Bars tend to go heavy on the ice because it's cheap, but the good news is that ice is calorie free. You're probably looking at getting something closer to 2 Oz of Rum and 8 Oz of Coke (multiplied proportionately to fill 12 Oz glass for direct comparison) which comes out to a 270 or 144 (Diet) Calories for a drink weighing in at 6% alcohol.

So, optimistically you're getting a much better deal than your typical lager beers, and realistically you're getting a marginally better calorie to buzz ratio.

Now take a look at some higher ABV Beers...

Founder's Backwoods *kitten*
http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/1199/35036

Style: Scotch Ale/Wee Heavy
Rating: A-
Serving: 12 Oz
Calories: 280
ABV: 10.2%

Dogifish Head 90 Minute Indian Pale Ale

Style: Imperial Indian Pale Ale
Rating: A
Serving: 12 Oz
Calories: 230
ABV: 9%


La Fin Du Monde

Style: Belgian Triple
Rating: A
Serving: 12 Oz
Calories: 225
ABV: 9%


I think the math is clear. You pay in calories for higher alcohol, but if you choose your drinks wisely (and based on their ABV) you can get to where your going without wrecking your whole week.

Think of it this way


Dogfishhead 120 Minute IPA

Style: Imperial IPA
Rating: B+
Serving: 12 Oz
Calories: 450
ABV: Varies 18%-25% (Generally assumed to be 20%-21%)

You could drink 12 Oz of beer at 450 Calories and get the same amount of alcohol (assuming 20%): 5 Bud Lights (60 Oz, 550 Calories), about 4 PBRs or Foster's (48 Oz, 612, 772 Calories respectively), 2 well made Captain and Cokes (24 Oz, 480 (Diet) or 690 Calories), or just over 3 Captain and Cokes that you might expect from a bar (36 Oz, 433(diet) or 810 Calories).

Do some math and do it before you get wasted. My advice, get in there, get drunk, ride the wave and don't fill yourself up on terrible drinks. Make sure you're getting quality of taste and quality of impact.

And since TRAV asked, I tracked down the Abita brew calories.

The nutritional info comes from here: http://www.thedailyplate.com/nutrition-calories/food/abita
And the rating and ABV info comes from Beeradvocate.com

Purple Haze (Abita) Serving Size: 12 oz; Calories: 145, Total Fat: 1.015g, Carbs: 1.052g, Protein: ?g
ABV: 4.2%
Rating: C+

Amber (Abita) Serving Size: 12 fl oz; Calories: 145 (128?), Total Fat: 1.01g, Carbs: 1.05g, Protein: 0g
ABV: 4.5%
Rating: B-

Turbodog Ale (Abita) Serving Size: 12 oz; Calories: 172, Total Fat: 0g, Carbs: 16g, Protein: ?g
ABV: 5.6%
Rating: B

Abita Light Beer (Abita) Serving Size: 12 oz; Calories: 119, Total Fat: 0g, Carbs: 8.2g, Protein: 0g
ABV: 4.0%
Rating: C

Jockamo Ipa (Abita) Serving Size: 12oz; Calories: 190, Total Fat: 0g, Carbs: 13g, Protein: 2g
ABV: 6.5%
Rating: B
This one is a personal go-to beer for me. It's a solid IPA.

Satsuma Harvest Wit (Abita) Serving Size: 12 oz; Calories: 155, Total Fat: 0g, Carbs: 11g, Protein: 2.4g
ABV: 5.1%
Rating: B-

Mardi Gras Bock (Abita) Serving Size: 12 ounces; Calories: 187, Total Fat: 0g, Carbs: 16g, Protein: ?g
ABV: 6.5%
Rating: B-

Abbey Ale (Abita) Serving Size: 12 oz; Calories: 230, Total Fat: 0g, Carbs: 18g, Protein: 3.3g
ABV: 8%
Rating: B

Pecan Harvest Ale (Abita) Serving Size: 12 oz. bottle; Calories: 150, Total Fat: 0g, Carbs: 11g, Protein: 2.6g
ABV: 5%
Rating: B-

Restoration Pale Ale (Abita) Serving Size: 1 Beer -- 12 oz.; Calories: 167, Total Fat: 0g, Carbs: 15g, Protein: 1.9g
ABV: 5%
Rating: B-

Miller Genuine Draft Light only has 64 calories. Also Budweiser Select has only 55 calories. They do have lower alcohol content though. I would drink Bacardi and Diet. Or raspberry vodka and club soda.