End of the beer belly?
By Brent Hopkins
Staff Writer
Anheuser-Busch has a new brew for body-conscious beer guzzlers: a low-carbohydrate beer targeting those with a "healthy lifestyle" -- read: hunks who imbibe.
The new Michelob Ultra beer. (A.P.)
With 2.9 grams of carbs, Michelob Ultra is slimmed down from the 5 to 7 grams in regular beers. Dave Peacock, a vice president for the St. Louis-based brewer, says that means muscle men can have their beer without the beer belly.
"If you're drinking Michelob Ultra, your traditional six-pack's going to look a little better," Peacock said.
"As we've seen carbohydrate consciousness increase in consumers, we realized there's a place for this," he added. "For people who work out or are trying to maintain a healthy lifestyle, we thought this made sense."
Ron Eleazar, who was pumping iron Thursday at Venice's famous Muscle Beach, agreed the lighter lager has some marketing weight to it.
"I'm thinking of getting a six pack but, as you can see, I haven't quite done it yet," he said, patting his ample belly. "So if I can still work out and have the energy without the carbs, that's definitely a good thing."
The new lager packs 96 calories per 12 ounces, with 4.1 percent alcohol content, roughly the same as a light beer and less than the 150 calories and 5 percent alcoholic content for its regular cousin. The process, developed over 18 months by Michelob brewmeisters, cooks the beer's grain mash three times its normal cycle.
"What's great about it is the process we used," Peacock said. "It breaks down the carbs, but doesn't get rid of the taste."
Those carbs get roasted into sugars which later ferment away, leaving the lager's essence, but without the gut-enhancing carbs that have become the bane of Atkins dieters' existence.
Slated for a nationwide release in September, it should retail for $4.99 per six pack.
"It exceeded all our expectations," Peacock said. "It transcends all demographics, too. We've got people from 21-71 as long as they're still leading a healthy lifestyle."
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