Which type of alcohol has more calories and fat: beer, wine, or hard liquor? By Tré Taylor

Which type of alcohol has more calories and fat: beer, wine, or hard liquor?

Calories in alcohol are used before stored fat calories. There goes the theory that drinking a beer (or two) after a workout counts as a fluid replacement. In reality, post-exercise alcohol is a straight-to-the-fat-pads beverage. People who are overweight actually gain weight more easily when they drink alcohol and don't really give a shit after a while. Calories from alcohol tend to be stored in the abdomen. If you want six-pack abs, abstain from alcohol.

As far as the calories go, a 12-ounce can of average beer has 146 calories; 3.5 ounces of average wine has about 70 calories per glass; and a 1.5-ounce shot of gin, rum, vodka, or whiskey (bourbon) pours anywhere from 97 to 124 calories into your glass. The calories quickly begin to mount when you order more than a round and when your serving size is larger than the standard. For kicks, you ought to go to your liquor cabinet and measure the amount of wine that fills your favorite stemmed glass. I'll bet it holds more than 3.5 ounces. (Mine holds five.)

12 oz good beer = 150 calories
12 oz lite beer = 110 calories
5 oz wine = 90 calories
1 1/2 oz liquor = 90 calories (with 6 oz carbonated drink mix add another 75 calories)

Brandy is made from distilled wine or fermented fruit juice and is aged in a barrel. Even though there is carbohydrates in wine or fruit juice, it is turned into alcohol during the distillation process. FYI, cognac is the finest grade of brandy. Generally, 1 jigger (1 1/2 ounces) of liquor (gin, rum, vodka and whiskey) contains:

97 calories
0 gm protein
0 gm fat
0 gm carbohydrate
14 grams alcohol

Perhaps you are thinking of a liqueur. Kalua, a coffee liqueur, 1 jigger ( 1 1/2 ounces) has:

160 calories
0 gm protein
0 gm fat
17 gm carbohydrate
14 gm alcohol

On the fat front, alcohol contains zero grams of fat. BUT if you start mixing drinks such as pina coladas or Sombreros, a mix of coffee liqueur and cream, the fat adds up quickly. A 4.5-ounce pina colada cocktail has 262 calories and 2.6 grams of fat. The three-ounce Sombrero has 308 calories and 14.5 grams of fat. While the fat may be absent in your seven-ounce vodka with orange juice (174 calories, 0.1 grams of fat) or a 5.5-ounce tequila sunrise (189 calories, 0.2 grams of fat), the calories won't be.

Couple these happy hour drinks with a handful of Beer Nuts (170 calories, 14 grams fat) and your calorie and fat intake will start resembling the dinner hour. To cut the calories in your drinks, sad to say, try light beer (12 fluid ounces has 100 calories) or a wine spritzer (two ounces of wine with six ounces of seltzer has 41 calories) and try to keep a lid on the amount you drink.