It has happened more than once where an uninformed beer drinker has said something to me like, “wow, that’s dark. I bet that packs a punch”. Unfortunately, I knew what they meant and it wasn’t that it packs a punch of flavor; rather, they assumed that the darker the beer, the more alcohol.

I usually just give them an inebriated smirk and reply, “You know it! You better stick to that Bud Light, this is real potent stuff!”

Of course, color has nothing to do with alcohol content. As a matter of fact, my Guinness has less alcohol by volume than my friend’s Bud Light. The color in beer primarily comes from the malted barley, the amount used, and the varying degrees in which it is roasted. (Note, there are other factors such as adjuncts, water, steep times, etc… also play a role in color)

A brewer does not even need much of the darker roasted malts to alter the color which allows them a lot of flexibility in altering the color while only imparting as much of the flavor as desired. For instance, Paulaner’s Oktoberfest is a beautiful medium amber colored brew, but has the taste of a malt river. Conversely, if you have ever had a Killian’s Red, it does have a nice, deep red hue, but the beer is fairly weak in malt derived flavors.

“Packs a punch.” I recently heard that comment from a “Bud Light only” friend of mine where we now have a running joke to make fun of the other’s beer. Who, by the way, poured out a Sam Adams because he couldn’t choke it down, but also poured out a Corona for the same reason… I just don’t get it.

Maybe he meant “packs a punch of calories”…? Nah…but, he has inspired me to blog more about “how” color, calories and alcohol come about in beer.

More to come in my “How” series… stay tuned.