I normally eagerly await new beers from Gage Roads. It's a good brewery and their recent run of seasonals 
has been pretty good. So when I received a media release today about a new beer I opened it expectantly, wondering what delights they had in store for me...instead I found a media release trumpeting a new low-carb beer, Kutt.
I will say at the outset that I haven't tried Kutt yet and it could be the greatest beer of 2008...but I doubt it. No offence to anyone who actually likes likes low-carb beers for their flavour, but everyone else is getting conned. Compared to almost anything else you are drinking, ALL BEERS ARE LOW-CARB! So much so that last year Lion Nathan started marketing XXXX Gold as lower-carb - they could simply because it fit the definition, not because they changed it in any way.
Fosters publishes a table of the carbohydrate levels of its beers which makes for fascinating reading. VB has 3g of carbohydrates per 100ml of beer (roughly 10g for a stubby), Carlton Draught has 2.7g, Crown Lager 3.1g and Redback Original has 3.6g. Amazingly Guinness (with its "pork chop in every glass") has 3.6g per 100ml. These all have fewer carbs than milk (4.9g/100ml) or chocolate milk (9g/100ml). Then there's 15.7g of carbs in 20g of plain flour and 21.7 grams in a 35 gram Tim Tam.
Now, I'm not suggesting you drink beer instead of milk, but it does put things in some perspective. I would rather forgo the Tim Tam and have a beer with real flavour.
Beers that are marketed as low carbs are just that, marketing. All you need to do is read the second paragraph of a media release about a new beer:
"It is presented in unique packaging that reflects the style and aspirations of the consumer. The stylish graphics and the extra long bottle bring something new and fresh to the low carb beer market."
Huh?? The graphics and the bottle...what about the taste of the beer? Shouldn't that be what Kutt brings to the low carb beer market? Nope, jumping on the low-carb bandwagon (while trying to shoe-horn in mentions of craft beer - but I'll write about that later), slick graphics and clear, trendy bottle. This is the beer equivalent of a fast-talking, leased-Mercedes, dripping in gold jewellery, Gold Coast life coach.
I don't mean to single out Kutt - it equally applies to all of the low-carb beers - though Kutt certainly turns the marketing up to 11.
If you like the flavour of low-carb beers, you might find something here. If you force yourself to drink low-carb thinking it's good for you, have something you actually like (in moderation) and lay off on the Tim Tams.
Me, I'll wait 'till Gage Roads' next seasonal comes out...