Living Life Low Carb While Brewing Beer

What do you do when your job has you surrounded by high carb temptations from 9 to 5?

To give you a little backstory, I was introduced to a low-carb lifestyle over ten years ago by my wife. Admittedly, I went along at first because I was too lazy to constantly prepare and shop two different grocery lists, but after noticing an uptick in energy levels and a decrease in cravings for carb-heavy foods it didn’t take long for me to get on board. I also have a family history of diabetes, and while my annual physicals have returned results in the safe range for resting blood glucose, triglycerides, and cholesterol, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

At about the same time that I embraced a steady low-carb lifestyle, I also made a career shift to a more physically demanding job in the craft brewing industry. This may seem at odds with the lower carb lifestyle I had settled into, but I genuinely love the process of making beer and had been eyeing a career move into craft beer for some time. The small scale iteration, the science, the attention to detail, and the sense of pride that comes from knowing that something exists at the end of the day that didn’t when you first stepped into the building. As luck would have it, I also have an affinity for lagers and other more thoroughly fermented beers that tend to be lower in carbs. While we brew a wide variety of styles, my personal tastes make it easier to work beer into a lower carb lifestyle.

Passion and intellectual stimulation aside, going from a mostly sedentary job to one where I’m on my feet with quite a bit of lifting and maneuvering of heavy equipment meant my energy demands significantly increased. To give you an idea of how dramatic a shift we’re talking about, I went from walking 2,000-3,000 steps each day to over 12,000 steps while also needing to lift, load, and unload full kegs and several hundred pounds of malt each day. The higher fat and protein content in a low-carb diet helped me navigate that increased energy demand.

How do I drink craft beer, which is high in carbs, and still maintain a lower carb lifestyle?

Energy demands aside, how do I drink craft beer, which is high in carbs, and still maintain a lower carb lifestyle? For starters, you might be surprised to know that most brewers don’t actually drink much beer throughout their work day. While our jobs involve quality assurance protocols like taste testing and sensory panels, we’re usually sampling no more than a few ounces of beer at a time. An average 12 oz craft beer contains 12-15 grams of carbs. With what I sample on a daily basis, I generally ingest 16-30 grams of carbs per day depending on the types of beers we have in production.

Now, most practitioners will tell you that a ketogenic lifestyle and drinking beer cannot coexist,  and I generally agree with them. The Venn diagram of drinking beer and ketosis has a very, very narrow center. It’s also important to point out that I am not in ketosis, nor has that ever been my goal. My goal is to consume no more than 100 grams of carbs daily in efforts to stave off the development of diabetes, maintain energy levels while doing physically demanding work, and to avoid the spike and crash of my blood sugar levels throughout the day. According to Johns Hopkins, the average American daily diet consists of 250+ grams of carbohydrates, and ingesting less than 50% of the average American’s daily carb is in line with my long-term health goals.

Let’s get to the meat and veg of this story. I do my best to stay under 100 grams of carbs in my meals knowing that approximately 30% of my carb allotment will be used in my daily product sampling. Here’s how I structure a typical meal plan for my work days:

• Breakfast (10-20 grams of carbs)some text
  • Coffee: I joke that my coffee is half half-and-half, half coffee. Roughly ⅓ of a cup of half-and-half for 7 carbs.
  • Protein breakfast bar: 12 carbs according to the packaging.
  • Egg cups: I batch 12 egg cups on Sundays and mix in sausage, peppers, cheese and spices. Each egg cup is roughly 2 carbs.
• Lunch (7-20 carbs)some text
  • Leftovers: Our dinners consist almost exclusively of a meat entree and vegetable side dish. It’s safe to estimate that those leftover meals are 5-15 carbs. Think easy reheat meals like brats and broccoli, bunless burgers and coleslaw, or low-carb enchiladas.
  • Meat & Cheese rollups: My go-to during the summer months. With brewhouse temperatures regularly above 80º, I don’t want hot food. An easy, quick option for me involves 4-5 slices of provolone or colby jack rolled up with ham, salami, or other deli meats. At roughly half a gram of carbs per cheese slice and essentially nothing for a slice of meat, I average 7-10 carbs for 5-6 rollups.
• Dinner (5-15 carbs)some text
  • This is probably the easiest meal to keep low-carb because it’s the one meal I’m guaranteed to share with my wife and daughter. While our kiddo usually tucks in with some Spaghetti-Os and apple slices, we pull from  low-carb staples and seasonal specialties like:some text
    • Meat & veg: Steak and asparagus, salmon and cauliflower puree, brats and coleslaw, etc. (5-15g net carbs)
    • Low-carb casseroles: Shepherd's pie with cauliflower puree in place of mashed potatoes, enchiladas with low-carb tortillas, pulled pork lettuce wraps, and grilled chicken salads for example. (10-20 carbs)
    • Zoodles with various proteins and low-carb sauce (10-15 carbs

I think it’s important to recognize that there’s a place for a lower carb lifestyle in a variety of industries–even one like craft beer. 

When we tally up my typical carb intake from food, we get an average of 30-70 grams of carbs  from my three daily meals. Combine that with my typical daily beer intake of 16-30 grams of carbs, and we get a total average carbohydrate intake of 50-100 grams each day.

Now, do I eat this menu perfectly week after week without fail? No, but it is doable! There are days where I snack, or have to sample more beer due to a number of new releases, or I go out to eat while doing account visits to bars and restaurants that sell our beer. Sometimes I just want to enjoy a few of my brews on Saturday afternoon with whatever college football game gets top billing. That said, I think it’s important to recognize that there’s a place for a lower carb lifestyle in a variety of industries–even one like craft beer. 

Besides, what’s life without a cold one every now and again? Cheers!

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