Loving a beer made from a natural process using the choicest hops, rice, and best barley malt is easy. But what are the Budweiser alcohol content and calories per 12 oz. serving, and does it taste excellent?
In this article, we’ll compare Budweiser alcohol content with other standard beers, as well as cover the main advantages of Budweiser, and 3 top tips for getting the most out of this American beer that is beer profile (taste, aroma & palate), ingredients, and how to lose the calories per drinking session among others.
Budweiser is an American-style lager from AB InBev with a crisp, medium-bodied, and flavorful beer profile. It contains the best barley malt and a blend of premium hop varieties.
Let’s dive in to find out the qualities and content of Budweiser beer to ensure you know how many beers to get drunk and that you do not gain too much weight as you enjoy your favorite beer.
Budweiser Alcohol Content
The alcohol content in Budweiser (Bud) in the United States is 5% alcohol content by volume (ABV) as per the advertisement, label, and our tests. Compared to the alcohol content of Bud Light which is 4.2% ABV, Budweiser, a medium-bodied, flavorful, crisp American-style lager from Anheuser–Busch headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri has a higher alcohol content of 5%.
The beer is the standard beer to which most beers’ alcohol content is compared against. Budweiser is thus the “Standard American Lager” or “Standard American Beer: American Lager” according to Beer Judge Certification Program. A standard alcoholic drink in the US contains 0.5 ounces (14.7 ml) of alcohol which is what is found in a 12 oz. serving of Budweiser.
The tests by CNN also concurred with our tests that Budweiser has 5% ABV since the CNN tests came out at 4.94% alcohol by volume.
In the Budweiser family, Bud Ice has a higher ABV than Budweiser at 5.5% while Budweiser Select 55 has the lowest ABV and calories at only 2.5% alcohol content by volume. Moreover, Bud Light Platinum is stronger in alcohol content than the average Budweiser since Bud Light Platinum has 6% ABV.
Is Budweiser stronger than Bud Light?
Budweiser is stronger than Bud Light since Bud Light has an ABV of 4.2 as compared to the 5% alcohol by volume in the Bud regular. In fact, Bud Light is one of the most popular beers due to its lower alcohol content as compared to the standard beer in the United States.
Thus, Budweiser has 0.8 percentage points more alcohol per serving as compared to Budweiser Light. This means that if you do not want to get drunk faster you can go for Bud Light.
Moreover, Budweiser has more calories as compared to Bud Light. Bud Light has 110 calories in a 12 oz. serving (can or bottle) whereas there are 149 calories in a regular Budweiser. The calories in a Budweiser come from alcohol content (5%), 10.6 grams of carbs, and 1.3 grams of protein compared to the 6.6g total carbohydrates and 0.9 grams of proteins in a 12 oz serving.
The taste of Budweiser is that of a typical beer bitterness and taste but Bud Light does not have the typical beer bitterness and taste. What is commendable is that the brewery has been able to maintain the “crisp” and “refreshing” nature of Budweiser in a Bud Light beer.
Thus, Budweiser is heavier than Bud Light in every category for classifying beers; It is heavier in calories, alcohol content, carbohydrates, proteins, IBU, and other content describers.
It is important to note that regular beers are losing their popularity to light beers and hard seltzers. This is because Light beers and hard Seltzers have lower calories and lower carbs and people are more conscious about their weight now than ever before.
Busch Beer vs Budweiser alcohol content
Both Busch beer and Budweiser are two of six beers from Anheuser-Busch InBev that used to rank among the top 10 beers in terms of U.S. shipments. However, both beers are brewed in the United States.
The two beers are standard American lagers with Budweiser having an alcohol content of 5% while Busch beer has 4.3% alcohol content by volume. This means that Budweiser has 16% more pure alcohol in the same serving compared to Busch beer. Thus, Bud is stronger than Busch beer in terms of alcohol content.
Being imported European beers, the breweries use rice or corn as an adjunct. Thus, Budweiser and Busch beer share the primary ingredient composition which is filtered water, Premium American and imported hops, yeast, and barley malt. Budweiser has rice as an adjunct while Busch beer has corn.
The ingredients are brewed perfectly to give you 12 oz. beers that have 114 calories for Busch lager and 149 calories in Budweiser. The calories for Busch come from 4.3% of pure alcohol, 6.9 grams of carbs, and 0.8 grams of protein while for Budweiser the calories come from 5% pure alcohol, 10.6 grams of carbohydrates, and 1.3 grams of protein. However, there is no fat content in both beers per 12 oz.
Coors Banquet vs Budweiser alcohol content
We are comparing two of the most popular beers in the world. The two beers are standard American lagers with the same alcohol content of 5%. However, to brew them the two breweries don’t use the same ingredients.
Thus, Budweiser has rice, while Coors Banquet has corn grid as an adjunct. All the other ingredients are similar being filtered water, hops, yeast, and barley malt. Due to this, most users state that Coors tastes better than Budweiser.
Budweiser calories 12 oz bottle is about 149 calories compared to 147 calories in a 12-fl.-oz. of Coors banquet. The calories are from the 5% alcohol content, 10.6 g of carbohydrates, and 1.3 g of protein for Budweiser while Coors Banquet’s calorie output is from the 5% alcohol, 12 grams of carbohydrates, and 1g of protein. Both beers have no fast content per 12 oz.
The two beers are not so different when comparing the International Bitterness Unit (IBU) which is an international unit for bitterness where Budweiser has an IBU of 12 while Coors Banquet has an IBU of 15.
Budweiser vs Miller High Life alcohol content
Miller High Life is an American Lager beer brewed by Molson Coors brewery with an alcohol content of 4.6% by volume. 12-oz cans/ bottles of this beer will give you 141 calories that come from the alcohol content, 12.2 grams of carbohydrates, and 0.5 grams of proteins.
On the other hand as descibed above, Budweiser is a beer with 5% alcohol content. Every 12 oz. serving of Budweiser contains 10.6 g of carbohydrates, and 1.3 g of protein for Budweiser. The 12 oz serving will give you 149 calories which are from alcohol, carbs and proteins.
Both beers are well loved in the United States. You will love their taste and aroma which makes them great American lager beers.
Budweiser Alcohol Profile
| Specifications | Budweiser’s Beer Details |
| Beer type | American-style pale lager beer |
| First brewed | 1876 by Carl Conrad & Co. of St. Louis, Missouri |
| Brewery | Anheuser-Busch, St. Louis, Missouri |
| Ingredients | Water, malted barley, rice, hops, and yeast |
| Does it contain gluten? | It is not gluten-free |
| Calories | About 149 calories per 12-ounce serving |
| Carbs | 10.6 grams of carbs per 12-ounce serving |
| ABV | Five Percent (5%) |
| IBU | 12 |
| Packaging | Six-pack to 30-can pack (12 and 16 oz.) |
| Body | Medium body |
| Flavor profile | Flavorful, crisp American-style lager with a wonderful finish- malt and Noble hops, along with trace citrus and fruity notes |
| Recommended Serving Temperature | 35–40° Fahrenheit (2–4° Celcius) |
| Cost | Very affordable price |
Is Budweiser a Lager or a Pilsner?
Budweiser is classified as a Pale Lager, also a Pilsner in the brewing world. But is it a true pilsner? How do the iconic beer’s ingredients (both rice and wheat) affect its beer class?
Technically, Budweiser is not a true pilsner since it is not an “all-malt” beer. Unlike all-malt beer which only uses malted barley for fermentation Budweiser uses two-row and six-row wheat in addition to rice thus making it an American Lager beer.
To make a Pilsner, the brewery uses carefully controlled “lagering,” an aspect of the beer brewing process in addition to “correction” by the addition of hops. A pilsner is a lager. It is important to note that the brewing process for beers can produce other types of lagers but the controlled lagering yields the pilsners.
The Bud, with its origin in America, is widely popular around the globe. The beer is a domestic beer like Corona and offers an ABV of around 5% ABV. You will find out that most Craft beers’ ABV ranges from 10 to 15% ABV making them quite popular for people who want to get drunk faster.
Budweiser taste
Some people state that Budweiser tastes like beer-flavored water. Thus some people say that it tastes bad but it is the real teaste of modern lager.
The beer has a golden color which goes well with the subtle aroma notes of malt and hops. You will also find the beer having trace fruits and citrus aroma.
When it comes to taste, Budweiser has a crisp and clean taste with a wonderful finish. You will be fond of the sweet corn flavour but may not like the heavy hints of industrial chemicals. The crisp and delicate flavor is combine expertly with the faint fruit acidity that emanates from heavy carbonation.
The beer is a bit heavier compared to traditional lagers. Thus, Budweiser has a medium-body which goes well with aged cheese varieties and creamy desserts like crème brûlée and cheesecake. Combining Budweiser with these desserts creates a smoothie-like texture and sweet flavor.
Conclusion
We have gone through the Budweiser alcohol content by volume which is 5% in the United States. The alcohol content in addition to the 10.6 g of carbohydrates, and 1.3 g of protein give you the 149 calories in a 12 oz. serving.
The beer has an excellent taste and aroma to complement various food.
However, if you want less calories and lower alcohol content, you can explore Bud Light. This ensures you as a weight conscious person do not develop a pot belly.
Sources
https://www.cnn.com/2013/03/01/business/beer-alcohol-test/index.html
