It’s one of the great beer misconceptions. Guinness, with its dark appearance and somewhat creamy body, must be an incredibly unhealthy beer. Hell, we’ve had people tell us it’s the same as eating a loaf of bread.
Hogwash.
As we hit St. Patrick’s Day and you raise a pint or eight, we are here to remind you: Guinness is a healthy beer option. A 12-ounce pour of Guinness is only about 125 calories. Compare that to your Double IPA and it’s enough to make you drop your hoppy brew in shock. Color has little correlation to calorie count when it comes to beer, as the most important factor is the alcohol by volume. In that department, Guinness is a totally reasonable 4.2%.
Okay, so low calorie isn’t the same as “healthy.” Luckily, there’s plenty of evidence to show a beer a day—specifically something like Guinness—is actually good for you. You can read a bit more about that here and here.
So, maybe that old advertising line, “Guinness is Good for You,” wasn’t that far off.
