Bud Light
St. Louis, Missouri
Rice-adjunct American light lager at 4.2% ABV. Published at about 110 calories and 6.6g of carbohydrate per 12oz, the highest carb count of the big domestic lights.
- Ingredients / botanicals
- water, barley malt, rice, hops, lager yeast
- Congeners
- Very Low
- Histamines
- Low
- Polyphenols
- Very Low
- Sulfites
- Low
- Tannins
- Very Low
- Sugar
- Very Low
- Additives
- Low
- Calories
- 109
- Sugar
- 0g
11.8g ethanol at 4.2% ABV. 82 from alcohol, 26 from carbohydrate.
In its favor
- ✓4.2% ABV
- ✓0g sugar on the label
- ✓Cold lager fermentation and heavy filtration keep congeners and amines low
What to watch
- !Contains gluten from barley malt
- !Carbs (6.6g) run roughly double Michelob Ultra's 2.6g
- !Easy to drink in volume
Factor by factor
Congeners Very Low ▾
Byproducts of fermentation (methanol, acetaldehyde, fusel alcohols). Strongly linked to hangover severity; darker, less-distilled spirits carry more.
Histamines Low ▾
Produced by bacteria during fermentation/aging. Trigger flushing, headaches, congestion in sensitive drinkers. High in red wine, beer, aged spirits.
Polyphenols Very Low ▾
Plant compounds with antioxidant activity. Slightly protective at low doses but at high concentrations may worsen hangover via tannin/quercetin reactions.
Sulfites Low ▾
Preservatives (SO₂) added to wine and some beers. Common trigger of headaches, asthma, and allergic-type reactions.
Tannins Very Low ▾
Astringent polyphenols from skins, seeds, barrels. Bind proteins, slow alcohol clearance, and aggravate dehydration-style symptoms.
Sugar Very Low ▾
Residual sugar amplifies hangover via blood-sugar swings and dehydration. Liqueurs and cocktails are the main offenders.
Additives Low ▾
Colorants, flavorings, glycerin, propylene glycol, sorbates. Cheap spirits and ready-to-drinks often hide these in trade-secret formulas.
Bud Light is the best-selling light lager in the United States and brews to the same template as the style page: barley malt stretched with rice, fermented cold, filtered hard. The published figure is about 110 calories per 12oz, and the site’s own arithmetic (ethanol at 4.2% plus 6.6g of carbohydrate) lands at roughly 109.
Its carbohydrate count is the thing that separates it from the lowest-calorie lights. At 6.6g it carries more residual carbohydrate than Coors Light (5g), Miller Lite (3.2g) or Michelob Ultra (2.6g), so the extra calories come from the malt, not the alcohol.
Bud Light questions
How many calories are in a bottle of Bud Light? ▾
About 109 calories in a 12oz bottle at 4.2% ABV. 82 come from the alcohol and 26 from carbohydrate.
Does Bud Light have sugar? ▾
No. Bud Light has 0g of sugar per 12oz serving.
How many carbs are in Bud Light? ▾
6.6g of carbohydrate per 12oz bottle, none of it sugar.
Is Bud Light gluten-free? ▾
No. Bud Light is brewed from barley and never distilled, so the gluten stays in the glass. It is not safe for coeliacs; look for a beer brewed from sorghum, rice or millet instead.
Does Bud Light give you a bad hangover? ▾
Bud Light scores 3/10 on the SpiritFacts Hangover Index, against 6/10 for beer overall. It is low on every hangover factor we track, so most of the morning after comes down to how much ethanol you drink.