Opinion – Full Glass: Doktor Brau bets on a low-carb line with less than 80 calories

For those who want to drink their beers without the pain of conscience due to the calories acquired, Doktor Brau gives the recipe, with its new series of low-calorie labels. There are three labels that make up the low-carb line, all with low alcohol content and less than 80 calories in long neck bottles — and one of them without alcohol.

Both the Low-Carb Pilsen and the Low-Carb IPA have 3% alcohol, well below that of others in the style — and they’re pretty refreshing. The label of both shows 42 calories, value for each 200 ml; that is, about 75 calories for the 355 ml bottle.

In the case of the Low-Carb IPA, the name was used to make life easier for the consumer, but the beer uses the same base as Albinus (from the brand’s portfolio), a session New England IPA, with wheat malt, which gives it a cloudy appearance, and a prominent citrus aroma —but with a much lower alcohol content, thanks to investments in the technology used in the manufacturing process.

The third beer in the line is Isotonic, a fruit beer without alcohol, different from “zero alcohol” beer. In the case of Isotonic, there are residues in the manufacture that leave it with only 0.4% alcohol. The long neck has only 25 calories —less than a bottle of Gatorade— and added berries. The fit brewer might even take you to the gym… who knows.

Other breweries have also recently been betting on low-calorie suggestions. The Hawaiian Kona, which integrates the Ambev portfolio, launched in December here a blonde ale with mango and 80 calories (269 ml can). Success in the United States, Michelob Ultra, also from Ambev, arrived in April 2021 with 79 calories.

Created in 2015 as a gypsy brewery, Doktor Brau established its production in Pouso Alegre, in the south of Minas Gerais, very close to São Paulo. The “doktor” in the name goes beyond the fantasy title, as the brewing partners are plastic surgeon Nuberto Hopfgartner and pharmacist Fernando Evans.

Doktor Brau’s new low-carb line can be found in emporiums, such as Natural da Terra and Emporium São Paulo, restaurants, such as Banana Verde, in Vila Madalena, and supermarkets, such as Santa Luzia.